Changes
by LiteratureStarter
Summary: A story of a brother sister relationship as they go through many changes in their lives, but as the changes come their relationship will remain strong.  Note this is a future fic! *Scrapped and might be deleted later*
1. Monday

Monday 6:00 A.M

The sun was out and shining brightly in the beautiful morning sky.

A city was slowly getting started for the day. Construction workers were all buzzing in getting another building finished, children played while they walk to school. Shops were opening and getting ready for business.

And so was one slightly unknown bar, the 7th Heaven, owned and ran by Tifa Strife (née Lockart), in fact there she is at the counter, appearing to still have her attractive appearance, though she has slightly visible age lines under her eyes, she looked the same as she did (well not many people would believe that she was fourty-two) though she had a change in clothing as well, she still wore black tops, but this time it didn't show her stomach, and she wore long dark blue pants, with a white apron…Living her life as a housewife, bartender and for some of you who can guess, she lived her life as mother as well.

She and Cloud had a small private wedding (Not really, they decided to get themselves married in a court or something like that) but it went with the exchange of marriage bands (basically rings) in front of their friends, a day after they had signed the marriage certificate.

Again it was simple, and yet enjoyable.

And then after a year or so, they later gave birth to their first child, a boy, with spike brown hair (though this boy decided to straighten his hair, and so it was straight, but the back part of his hair was spiked downwards, and his fringe was curved to one side, but the ends were spiked and looked like they were plastered perfectly against his face) and his face, mouth and nose were just like his father's whereas his eyes were shaped just like his mother's. And his skin complexion well…it was slightly darker than his father's but lighter than his mother's, so a perfect between… But unlike his parents, he wasn't fighters like them…In fact he often wanted to walk off a fight instead of going off to prove or show that he wasn't weak or that he wanted to trifled with…In fact he preferred doing things like listening to music, while sitting on a tree's branch with a sketch book and a pencil on his lap.

Then by the time their first child had turned five, Cloud and Tifa, were expecting twins…But by the time Tifa was due, there was a complication in the C-section…

_Oh yes, their first born son remembered this very well…His mother screaming as her water broke in the middle of the night, and then the excessive bleeding that came pooling down her legs to the bed._

_Her first born son was standing out in the doorway, wide-eyed as older (unofficial) adopted brother lifts him up into his arms, while they go downstairs, so he could call the doctor. _

"_Scáth, wait here…" His older brother instructs as he goes over to the phone…Soon he dials the doctor's number, waiting for him or her to pick up before calmly explaining what happened._

_At that point everything went by very fast for Scáth, the doctor came, his older brother and father took turns to check on his mother…The familiar sound of water dropping from the tap, every second as the world seemed to partially stand still…Finally there was a weak cries of an infant coming from upstairs. Scáth slowly stands up, getting off from the bar stool that he was sitting on... he instantly shivered slightly as his bare feet touched the cold wooden floors. Soon he walks across the room, behind the bar, and towards the second room of the building. _

_He looks up at the stairs, and takes a step. "Scáth, stay down there till I say it's alright to come up." His older brother on top of the stairs with a cracking voice. The little boy blinks twice and nods, then he goes across the dark, moonlit room to sit at the same barstool…_

_Minutes later, he hears his footsteps descending downstairs, and towards the barroom. There he caught a glimpse of his father holding something in his arms, but he couldn't make out what it was._

_And Cloud did his best to make sure that he couldn't see either. Scáth simply stares as his father walks out the door— Then the doctor came down along with Scáth's older brother, Scáth tilts his head slightly, and sees a mere peek of the two of them. She (the doctor) handed his older brother some medicine, and instructs him to give it to his mother…Afterwards she added that they could pay her tomorrow, before she took her leave…_

_Scáth saw her walk out of the door and his father coming back in, this time with empty handed._

Eventually they named their new child (A girl) Spéire…

Lucky, Tifa was able to pull herself together after that traumatic event…And she almost instantly had the strength to raise Spéire for another year, before falling pregnant again…And this time the child she had was another boy, whom she named Zean, however unlike his siblings, he was the only one who resembled his father most (from the color of the hair, nose, mouth and eyes) but he had his mother's skin tone.

Living in the bar was nice, and it was also nice being an older brother…but everything has it's limits…

And here we are, thirteen years later, nothing much has change, every morning was the same old routine…

7:00 A.M

"Onii-chan have you seen my ribbon?" Spéire asks. I lower the book I was reading and shakes my head and then goes back to the section I was reading…Funny the character in story has a similar background to mines… "Scáth! Where's my white socks? The teacher will kill me if I don't wear them again!" Zean panics. "Keep track of your things, you're not a little boy anymore…" I mutter. Zean's feet thump around the room, pulling out the drawers and tossing everything inside to the floor in matter of minutes, before running into the hall, causing a ruckus inside the household.

Mom then knocks on the door ledge, holding up the laundry basket. I lower the book again, and see her head move around at the mess right in front of her. She sighs and shakes her head, then begins picking and folding the clothes again. "Goodness…What I am going to do with you Zean…" She complains lightly, as she gets down on one knee to pick up the clothes.

I turn to her. Mom stops and smiles good morning. I nod and replied good morning too.

"You'll be graduating high school soon…I can't believe it." She says with a slightly sad smile. I shrug. "Well kids can't stay kids for forever." I say. She shakes her head in disbelief, after all that was a rather blunt and obvious statement. She tells me to stop reading and come down for breakfast.

Soon everyone sat at the bar table, and "Itadakimasu!" Everybody went (except for dad and myself) soon the five of us began eating. Like usual Zean was eating his breakfast as fast as he could, and once again he earned a scolding from mom, Spéire giggle, dad and I simply just watch the scene.

After twenty minutes or so, breakfast was done, and the three 'famous' Strife siblings made their way to school.

7:30 A.M

Spéire looks at me and asks what do I think? Oh great I was spacing out again… "Can you repeat what you said?" I requested. "I was talking about the dance party that the school was hosting…I was wondering if you could help me convince dad to let me go?" She says.

N.O. There was no way I was going to get between her and dad again…Last time that didn't end on a good note and she ended up going to hospital because her blood pressure rose up too high.

"Sorry Spéire, but if dad won't let you go, then he has his reasons, after all you're the only daughter of the family." I told her sternly. Spéire sighs and clutches her hand held school bag, looking downcast as the three of us walked towards the school building. As usual, Zean left first, since his elementary school was next to the building, and then Spéire and I walked to the next building.

She waves lightly and goes to her classroom, I nod and put my hand into my pocket before heading to my class respectively.

I place my bag on my desk, and look out at the sky, thinking back to the dance… Obviously having second thoughts about it…Spéire was what? Fifteen now, she had the right to make her own decisions…Despite the weak constitution she had as a result from mom's hard labour. She was still her own person, and she had the right to live…but will getting between her and dad again put her life in danger? Like it did last time…

"Scáth-kun!" Shouts the familiar voice of Beira Valentine (Well Valentine wasn't her real surname…but she decided to take it when my father's friend Vincent took her in, since she was one of the victims of the OMEGA crisis). She then hugs me from behind.

Bits of her long black hair tickled my neck, funny even at aged nineteen, she still acted like a kid…

"So how was your weekend it?" She asks, taking her usual seat, right next to mines. "It was normal…I did some homework, went about here and there…" I told her. "That's so boring…You're just like papa…" She sighs lying her chin on her hand. I pull out my sketch book from my bag and then my set of pencils, then start drawing. Beira immediately takes an interest and watches from behind me as I sketch the bases of the classroom before adding the details. "Wow…You should do this for a living you know!" Beira says in a bubbly voice.

I didn't answer and continued to concentrate on the drawing, when suddenly it wasn't in my hand anymore. I look up and Beira was already flipping through the pages. Her mouth hung open in awe. "These are really good! You can earn a lot of money from these drawings!" She exclaims.

"Can I have my sketch book back?" I demanded. She chuckles and then nods, soon she hands it back to me. Then I flip to the page I was working on and continue on it again.

8:00 A.M

But when I wasn't even half way through, the teacher came in; I pack my sketchbook away, and waited for the homeroom announcements.

"As you all know, the dance is coming up in a few weeks time…So please let now be the time for you all to go and choose your friends who you want to come with you to the dance, and support them." He stops at that, and then goes on more about exams as well, then school efficiencies, policies, rules, safety, regulations and the usual things… After homeroom was done, the next teacher came in and it was time for math class. During the lesson, I stop taking notes and looks out the window thinking back to what I said to my sister? Snap out of it…The dance isn't till a few weeks away. So there'll be plenty of time to worry about it.

2:00 P.M

School was over and I waited near the entrance, waiting for Zean and Spéire. "Scáth!" And there was Zean. He runs next to me, bending on his knees, panting…My guess he rushed out of school as soon as possible without taking a breather. Soon I turn back and keep a look out for Spéire, and then I spotted her walking with a boy, who I recognized to be Oster Thetir one of the honor students at the school. Soon her face turns into a tint of red in the distance, she was blushing. He nods to whatever she asking. I felt my eyes widen in shock to it's own accordance, then she slowly heads our way. "By Thetir-san." She waves as she goes towards us. "Let's go." She says.

"Finally! Was getting bored of waiting!" Zean complains as he walks beside her. Spéire smiles apologetically and says sorry for making us wait.

I look at my sister and wonders, has she really grown up that fast? (Well I guess the answer was a total 'duh') but I didn't think that she'd be interested in boys yet, especially the ones at the school.

"So Scáth, who are you taking with you to the dance?" Spéire asks. I shrug. "Why worry about it now if we still have time?" I pointed out. She then nods and then the three of us walked silently to the bar, knowing full well that the place was going to be crowded.

The bell rang as soon as we entered the bar. "Taidama." Spéire greets we step inside. "Okaeri nasai." Mom replies as she passes a drink to another one of her customers.

"Hey Scáth play us a good one tonight alright!" Mr. Brandon shouts. I nod. Mom smiles. Mr. Brandon then praises mom for having raised such a multi-talented boy (A.K.A, me) Mom simply shakes her head and tells him, Cloud deserves some of the praise too, but she also joked about how all this praising was going to go into my head. "Mom, Scáth isn't that type of person!" Spéire scolds her. I place a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, she was just joking." I told her. Spéire smiles and nods. Then again, we both have the same problem, especially when it came to defending our loved ones.

Zean pushes through us and heads upstairs, probably to do some homework or something. Spéire then puts her bag down on a free spot at the bar stand and has a conversation with Mr. Brandon.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and then headed up to my room, before taking out my books and getting straight into my homework. Suddenly mom knocks on the arch of my door. "Scáth can you help me out with the sink? It's leaking again!" She tells me. I sigh and put my notebook down, then headed downstairs.

I pulled out the toolbox under the bar stand, and immediately went under the sink, and tightens one of the pipes.

Mom was on the floor, wiping the water away with a cloth. "Mom, why couldn't you have done this yourself?" I ask her. Mom stops and looks at me, pausing slightly before answering. "Well Scáth, I need someone who at least knows something about pluming that doesn't cost fifty to sixty gil an hour." She says. True…Those prices were ridiculous.

"Besides, you're a lot better than those so called 'professionals'." Mom adds with a quick wink. Then she goes back to wiping the floor again.

Within ten minutes the pipes was done, and I caught mom wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Not only that, but she looks pale and tired too… Did she get a nasty bug or something? "Mom why won't take a rest, I'll clean this up." I told her. Mom blinks twice and insists that she can do it. For some reason, I had a very bad feeling that what she had was far worst from exhaustion. "Mom." I grab the cloth away from her. And kneels in front of her. "Go and lie down okay, and that's not a suggestion." I ordered. Mom looks at me sternly. It's understandable, if there was one thing that she didn't like, it was being treated like a weakling (especially from her own kids) but deep down she knows that I was right.

Mom sighs and just smiles. "Well alright, I guess I do need the rest…I'll leave most of it to you Scáth." She says before she stands up.

Mom then heads off upstairs to her room, and then I continue to clean the floor.

6:00 P.M

Dad had just arrived home to see an unusual scene. Normally it would be mom who handled the bar, but this time it was me. "Where's your mother?" He asks. "She's upstairs." I answered.

He nods and then puts his sword on near the doorframe, and then heads upstairs as well.

"Shouldn't you be d-doing homework or something?" Asked one the half-drunk customers. I shrug and told him that I could that I can finish it easily. He didn't seem to really pay attention (or he forgot the question altogether) and just asks for another shot.

I poured him another cup of scotch, and goes off to serve some of the other customers.

Soon I hear the sound of dad's boots coming down the stairs. "Scáth, you do finish whatever work you have upstairs, I'll take it from here." He tells me. I nod and then leave my post to finish off my homework.

I walk pass dad, and then he pats my shoulder, and keeps his hand on there. "Listen, I need you to keep a close on your mother whenever you can, it's important that she doesn't over do it." Dad instructs. I nod and then he lets go.

I continue to head upstairs, and then look at my parents' room. Zean was there, resting his chin on the edge of mom's bed, napping there.

Though I could only see a mere glimpse of mom's face, it wasn't that hard to see her smile, soon she bends down and kisses my little brother on the forehead.

I take a step forward, and then the floor creaks. Mom gasps and turns around to see me there. "Scáth, I thought you were looking after the bar." Mom says in shock. "I was, but dad told me to finish my homework." I explained. She nods and then caresses Zean's hair. "So are you going to get to it, or did you want to talk about something first?" She asks. I nod and then sits on the edge of dad's side of the bed. "Mom, you know that there's the dance coming up, and I have a friend who wants to go, but my friend has a condition, and because of that condition, my friend ended up going to hospital after a fight with his father…And he wants me to talk to his father so he can go to the dance…What should I tell him?" I explain. Mom smiles lopsidedly. "Sounds like to me, this friend of yours seems to like to take risks, as a parent I can understand the feeling of wanting to protect their offspring. Well if I were you, I would promise my friend's father that I will look after him, and take him to the hospital if anything were to happen. Is that a good enough answer for you?" She wonders.

I nod and then thank her before heading out the door. Soon––"Scáth, good luck with your _friend_." She says with a smile and a knowing look in her eyes. If there was one thing that I love about mom, she tells you straight on when it came to solving problems.

Afterwards, I went straight to my room, and continue on with my homework.

Soon I heard thumps from my window. I ignored at first, but it came again. And then I ignored it.

"SCÁTH GET YOUR SORRY BUTT DOWN HERE!" Shouted the familiar voice of Beira. I sigh and open the window. "What do you want?" I ask her. "Finally…" She mutters, then she gets into a leaping position. "MOVE, CUZ I'M COMING UP!" She shouts as she launches herself up, and slides down through my window, before kneeling in the center of my room.

"How was that? Pretty impressive huh?" She says with pride, not realizing that I was already working.

Beira huffs in annoyance and folds her arms, puffing her cheeks out just to show how annoyed she was.

After ten to fifteen minutes, I finished with my math and turn to look at her. "Shouldn't you be at your own place?" I ask her. "Well papa isn't home, so I decided to come over, why is that a problem?" She says with an accusing tone. I shrug and then get started on my economics homework.

"Jeez you're _soooooo_ BORING…" She comments. I ignore her, after all she was just acting like an over-sided kid.

Beira paces around my room slowly before sitting on my bed. Soon my phone rang, and then I look at the caller I.D, the letters flared Vincent Valentine, soon I passed it on to her.

Beira answers it, and then I watch out of curiosity. She nodded and nodded, and just said 'ok', 'yup' and 'got it' soon she closes the head of the phone, and gives it back me.

"Well, papa says he's not coming home tonight, so I get to stay here!" She squeals.

I raise an eyebrow, wondering how is this in anyway exciting? Soon I hear a knock on the door. "Onii-chan, is someone there?" Spéire asks on the other side. "Yes." I answered. Then turn around, Beira arms were stretched away from each other, most likely from waving them, but it's too late now.

Spéire opens the door, wearing a lose purple sweater and a crème colored skirt. "Hi Beira-san." She says with a small smile. Beira smiles back and apologies for the sudden visit.

"Onii-chan, it's time for our performance, the customers are demanding it." She says.

_Sigh_…well I guess there is no disappointing them now.

I changed out of my school uniform, and puts on a plain white long sleeve button shirt, and grab my guitar, then headed downstairs.

There, Zean and Spéire were waiting at their spots dressed in their band outfits. Spéire does the usual band 'yell' and I start playing the guitar, whereas Zean does the drums and back up vocals.

Spéire starts the song with a low tone, and then high, and then in between. Mixing them all together one simple melody. When the breaks came, I go up to the front and perform some guitar tricks, earning some cheers from the customers, after the guitar solo, Zean and Spéire sings the song in a duet, while he continues to drum at the same time.

Soon when the performance was over, dad led all the customers out. Zean and I packed away all the equipment.

"Sounds like you all had fun." Says mom as she walks down the stairs, wearing a long sleeveless white nightgown. "Mom you should be resting." Zean says. Mom smiles and shakes her head. "I had enough rest for one day, so how about we make some dango for dinner?" She smiles. Zean and Spéire nods, then they went to the kitchen to help her.

Soon, dad and I were alone. "Dad, you know Spéire wants to go to the dance right." I told him. He nods, implying that he knew, then he looks at me. "She's still too weak and young." Dad says. I nod. "I know that, but please just let her go, please dad, I promise I won't let anything happen to her." I promised him. He looks at me unsure at first, but then he closes his eyes for at least five minutes, then he opens them again. He nods, and tells me with a condition, I have to make sure that nothing happens to her.

* * *

**This is my first story, and if there is anyone who feels that the birthing scene takes away most of the essences of this chapter, please tell me via Review, and please, please be honest, is it good,**

**bad, crappy or whatever? I appreciate honesty! So please enjoy the story!**


	2. Tuesday

Tuesday 6:00 A.M

The doctor came as soon as possible, and went straight into Spéire's room. Mom was about to come in with him, but the doctor blocked her path and told her to wait outside just like the rest of us.

Mom sits on a chair and waits calmly. Zean sits on the chair next to her and holds her hand. Dad leans against the wall and faces the ceiling with his eyes closed.

I just stood in the wall across him, with my arms folded, and head facing the floor.

What happened came totally unexpected. She just woke up in the middle of the night, and went straight to mom and dad's room. Telling them that she didn't feel well… Soon as she took a step she nearly fell over on the floor (well she could have if dad hadn't rush over to catch her in time), afterwards that's when mom took her temperature, and found it was forty degrees Celsius. And in no time dad rushed to the phone and called the doctor that had help mom give birth to her.

7:00 A.M

Nearly an hour had passed and still her hadn't came out yet. "Is she going to be alright Scáth?" Zean asks. I told him honestly, I do not know. Zean gulps slightly in worry, then mom stands up. "Hey not it's the time to give up, if we tell ourselves that she will be alright, then she will be alright." Mom says. I stand up straight as well. "She's right…Spéire is a lot strong than that, and you two know it... She won't just give up because it's the easy way out." I add.

"Scáth…" Zean blinks. I place my hand on his shoulder and look at him. "Let's get ready for school…Okay?" I urge him. Zean nods then goes off to his room to get his stuff ready.

Right on cue, the doctor came out, with a grave look on his face. "Well I managed to get her fever down, but I suggest that she stays in bed for at least a few days, and if you have a fan or air conditioner, make sure she uses as much as possible. Because she is at risk of gaining back her fever." He tells us. Dad nods, listening to the doctor's words carefully. "Is it safe to go in?" I ask. The doctor nodded and then steps aside. I look at my mother making sure that it was alright if I went in first. She nods and places her hands in front of her stomach, folding in a slight reluctant manner. But nonetheless she nodded again assuring me that it was alright if I go see her. I entered the room.

She was lying on her bed, with a wet towel on her head, and her cheeks slightly red from the still existing fever.

"Hi Onii-chan…" She says. Spéire looked so weak, and breakable as ever. "Sorry I scared you all." She says with the same apologetically smile she always had. "Don't say sorry for things that you can't control." I told her. She blinks twice and nods slowly. "Well I at least I can take a rest from school." She says sticking her tongue out playfully.

I chuckle and ruffle her hair for a bit, "True…you're lucky that you get to skip out on school." I told her. "But I will be lonely though…" She complains. "Don't worry…I'll be here…" I pointed to the center of her chest, right at the spot of her heart.

She smiles and we both thought of the same thing.

* * *

_Eight years ago._

_It was Spéire first day of kindergarden, and she was in tears of fear…She was afraid that she wasn't going to accepted for some reason?_

"_Mama can I stay home with Zean?" She begs in meek voice. Mom looks at her and smiles. She tells her that if she was a good girl and goes to school, then they will make cake together later on for tonight._

_Spéire thinks for a minute and then nods reluctantly. Mom pats her on the head._

_Soon I came down, already dressed in my school uniform. Soon mom hands me some money, and tells me to buy Spéire some lunch because she didn't have time to make it for her._

_I nod, and then she hands me some more money, and says there's enough for my own lunch and the rest is for shopping for groceries._

_I nod and then goes to the front area and puts on my shoes before helping Spéire with hers, and then motion her to go forward. _

_She nodded and walked to my side, and then she grabs my hand. I look to her and raise an eyebrow. But she just ducks her head so I won't be able to see what she was expressing in her face. I sigh, and then pull her forward. She refused to budge at first, so I just waited till she was ready._

_Seconds later she moves a step, and then stops before moving another step seconds later. _

_Finally after ten minutes we made it through the front door, and then I pull her along, this time she cooperated. Then I look at her again. "Spéire don't trouble other people with your personal feelings. School is school it's very important that you go." I scolded her. Spéire gulps and holds my hand tighter. "I don't want to see her." She says. I blink twice. Her? _

"_Who are you talking about?" I ask. Spéire looks up at me and then points to herself. "She looks like me." She explains. I blink twice. "Don't joke around." I told her. Spéire looks down. And we keep walking._

_Then we made a stop at a local bento shop, and then I bought two packs, one for her and one for myself._

_I handed Spéire's hers and then I grabbed her hand and continued on till we reached her kindergarden._

_I let go oh her hand and waited till she went in. But she just stood there. I sighed. "What's wrong now?" I ask, She shakes her head at first, and just stands there. "I need to go to school too you know, I can't waste my time here." I told her strictly. As I went to walk off, I heard something like I'm scared coming from where she was standing. I turned around and then I saw her trembling._

_I look at my watch. It's 7:30 A.M, well I still have time, so there' s not that much to worry about. So I walk over to her, and kneeled beside her. "Why are you so nervous?" I ask._

"_Because this is the first day I'm separated from home for a long time. " She says. I chuckle, was that all? She didn't want to leave the house?_

"_It's just for five days and only four hours everyday, you don't have to worry, just make lots of friends and it's be go by really fast." I told her. "But I can't say 'Okaerinasai…' and I will have to go home without first…I will be lonely…" She says. I sigh and points to the center of her chest. "I will be in here, so if you feel lonely just point there and call 'Onii-chan with' with your eyes closed and you will feel better." I told her. "Try it."_

_She then points to her chest and then calls "Onii-chan." with her eyes closed, then she opens them. "I feel better!" She declares. I ruffle her hair. "Behave yourself, and try to make friends." I told her before heading off to my elementary school._

_

* * *

_

"You were always so strict back then, well you still are now…But I'm glad that you've became more relaxed now." Spéire says with a cheerful voice. I nod, and then ruffle her hair again. "Get some rest ok, you need it." I told her. Spéire nods and slowly she starts to fall asleep.

Soon I left the room, and then got ready to go to school.

Five minutes later, I grabbed my things and headed downstairs. Mom stood in the door way with our bento packed lunches. She hands one to Zean and then myself. "Have a good day and study hard." She tells us. We nod and wish her a good day too.

* * *

{Spéire's P.O.V}

I stare up at the ceiling. It's been a hour since my brothers had left for school…Today was such an important day as well…I had my exams starting today…And if I miss any that's going to affect my grade…I don't want to redo ninth grade…That'll be too much trouble for mom and dad.

I know that they don't have the money or energy to take care of me… Although mom keeps putting on a brave face, I know I'm just a burden to them…If only I wasn't sick…

I know it might seem a little melodramatic…but it was true, Scáth and Zean have been putting most of their needs aside just for me…

There was a knock on the door, and I answered, "Come in." And there was mom holding a tray of food. "How are you feeling?" She asks. I nod and replied that I was feeling better. Soon she set the tray on my bedside table. Then she feels my forehead, "Thank goodness…" She sighs. I smile, that means I will be well enough to go to school tomorrow.

"Mom, can you pass me my school bag? I want to do some work so I wont get left behind." I tell her. Mom nods reluctantly, and then brings my school bag that was sitting in corner.

Mom smiles and tucks my hair behind my ear. "You should take it easy, though I'm happy that you're ambitious, you need to take a rest too." She reminds me. I let out a slightly frustrated sigh, it was tiring just staying in this bed…

Mom then digs her hand under my neck, and helps me stand up. "Here." She says putting the tray of food on my bed. Then she grabs the glass of water on the top right side of the tray, and holds it in front of me. "Drink first, water always help when you're sick." She tells me. I nod and takes the glass with both my hands, then gulps the water down slowly.

When I finished half a glass, I stare at it, seeing it was half empty. I sigh. Mom tilts her head to the side and places her hand on top of my right hand, then she looks at the glass with a gentle look on her face. "Is the glass half empty or half full?" She asks. I smile. Yup this was our way of saying to cheer up.

"Right now it's half empty to me…" I sigh as my smile faded. She rubs my forearm in caring way. "I see it as half full, here look." She says as she goes out for five minutes, and then carries a jug of water.

"Pour a little bit of happiness and laughter, then it becomes full again." She says as she pours the water into the cup within seconds it was whole.

"I know you're too old for this, but sleeping through an illness will make your body happy because the energy pours into them, like water into a cup." She says with a sincere smile. I nod.

Mom smiles wholeheartedly and gives me a hug, then caresses the back of my head, while whispering. "Sleep well Spéire…" She says as she releases the hug, to slowly help me support my head as I lie down. After a few minutes I suddenly felt drowsy, and before I knew it, sleep claimed me.

* * *

10:00 A.M (Scáth's POV)

It was finally time for break, and I was leaning in the wall behind the school building, trying to call mom, Spéire or dad, just to see how things are back home? But all I got was the recording machine. I simply pressed the end call button before putting the phone in my pocket.

Then I head back to class, with my bag slung over my shoulder. Well at this point, I day dreaming when I walked, and without warning I slammed to someone.

"Ouch…ouch, …" A young soft, feminine voice winces. I had my eyes closed while I was rubbing my now slightly bumped head, then I open my eyes and saw this red haired girl in front of me, rubbing her backside. When she saw me, she gasps, and then closes her legs so I won't be able to see under her skirt, then she sits with her legs folded.

Soon she looks at her scattered paperwork around her, and soon she began to organize it, while I just sit on the ground stunned at first.

Soon she looks at me with a slight glare. "Aren't you going to help me?" She demands. I nod and then slowly gets up to walk a two feet, before kneeling down, and picking up the scattered paper.

She was finished before I was, and without warning, she just grabs the papers I had in my hand, and cutting my palm in the process.

"Ouch…" I wince, taking look at my hand. There was a five centimeter cut there, not deep, but it was still visible. Soon I feel a trail of liquid run down to the edge of my hand, soon I see a thin trail of blood there.

"Kuso…" I muttered, and then I grab a tissue pack from my side pocket, and pull out a piece, before wiping the blood away, and then pressing it to my wound. I look up to have a good talk with the red head, but saw that was already ten feet away. I sigh and reminded myself that she was not worth it, and in truth she wasn't worth the trouble if she walked out like that.

Soon I grab my bag with my tissue covered hand, and then headed straight to class for study period (basically it's a free period that students can use to study or to fool around and act like kids or just to talk to friends) well I didn't that much friends, and I rather stay on top of my grades instead of being lazy and worry about people 'judging the book by it's cover', plus it's not looks that matter, but it's quality, or what mom used to say 'quality before popularity' and that's the motto that I came to appreciate.

Soon I walk into the classroom and there she was again, sitting in my assigned spot, talking to some of the girls.

I walk over to her. "Excuse me, but that's my seat." I notified her. All four of them look at me, then the red hair girl stood up. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt?" She says with a 'I don't care' tone. I tilt my head to the side in a daring manner. "I said that's my desk and I need to sit there so I can study." I told her in dangerous voice. She narrows her eyes, and I gave her a cold stare.

"What is going on over there!" Shouted the teacher. We both stepped back slightly. "Nothing sir." We both answered, though we still have cold looks on our faces. "It better be I don't want any trouble in my classroom!" He says. I look at her and motioned her to get out of my chair.

She then sits and walks to the far corner of the classroom, then sits on the desk that stood near the window side.

I finally sat down at my spot, and pulled out the economics homework that I wasn't able to finish last night, and started working on that.

Soon the sliding door swings open, making a loud DUK noise, and standing there was Beira, panting while holding the doorframe. "Ms. Valentine why are you late?" The teacher demanded. "Sorry sir, I fell asleep on the tree branch and I didn't hear the bell go off…So I overslept." She explains in a nervous tone. The teacher berates her, telling her that this is her third late this week, so they will have to call her father to the office…Beira then begs in a pitiful manner not to have him do that. But the teacher didn't listen to her pleas and then tells her that he will speak to Vincent after school, and soon he orders her to go to her seat.

Beira sighs and hangs her head in defeat, then she lies her chin on the desk, sulking.

I ignored her and then look at question fifteen. The differences between percentages of taxes for Kalm and Wutai, and how much would each countries gain in products if both taxes lower by ten percent.

I stare at the question, thinking hard… Well it was a difficult question especially if the prices weren't written…Besides how much was the taxes in Wutai or Kalm?

"Beira-san, did you do question fifteen?" I ask her. "No I didn't, I was staying over at your house last night remember, and I left all my school stuff at home…" She whines. "Papa's going to kill me…" I ignored her last comment and then try to solve it, but by then time I tried again, then teacher suddenly stood up and announces that study period was over.

I sigh, I spent an hour on this question and no avail, well I can ask the economics teacher during class, after all it was a difficult question, I hope she can understand?

* * *

2:00 P.M

"Man I never seen the economics teacher that disappointed before!" One of the girls exclaimed. "I know, Beira is a such an idiot!" The other one agrees. "I feel sorry for her father––" "Actually that man isn't her real father…Her parents died a long time ago…" The first girl adds. "I bet he's real sorry that he took her in…"

I remained pokerfaced while listening to those girls badmouthing Beira.

They walk pass me as I leaned against the school gate, soon I turn to school gate and saw Vincent come out with Beira standing next to him, on the left side. The teacher bows in respect, and Vincent responses to the bow with a simple nod before leaving first. Beira bows to the teacher and follows Vincent.

"How did it go?" I ask her. She shrugs, and look at Vincent. He looked stoic and calm as possible. "Papa I'm not in trouble I am?" She asks. "That remains to be seen." He tells her. Beira gulps slightly and then she looks at Vincent again before looking at me. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" She says. I nod, and then she waves. "Ja-ne…" She says. "Matane…" I reply.

Beira waves again and catches up with Vincent as he walked off.

"Scáth!" Oh, here comes Zean. Again he bends over to catch his breath. "You should stop running so quickly, I know you don't like school but that shouldn't be a reason for you to waste your breath like that." I tell him. Zean sighs and sulks slightly. "Sorry––" "Let's go." I told him brushing away his apology.

Zean takes another breath and follows me.

On the way home, Zean decided to have a race, which was really stupid, because he could have gotten run over if I didn't pull him back to the side walk. Afterwards I scolded him and also reminded that if anything happened to their mother would be heartbroken.

Zean looks down at his feet. "Sorry I'll try and be careful next time." He says. We left it at that, then walked all the way home.

Soon we entered the bar, expecting to see some customers there, but it was empty.

And there was mom behind the bar stand, washing some plates. "Mom, Taidaima!" Zean shouts. Mom jumps and drops all her plates in the sink. She slowly turns around. "Oh, Okaerinasai." She replies with a smile. "Mom how is Spéire?" I ask her. Mom smiles to my question. "She's going fine, though she was feeling down at first, but she's feeling better now." Mom adds. I nod in approval, then I take off my shoes and walk in.

"Do you have any homework?" She asks. I nod before heading upstairs to do whatever work I have.

While I was walking I could hear mom asking Zean that same question, but he simply replied that he didn't.

Mom gave him one warning, if she ever caught him lying, then it's instant groundage.

All I could think about that talk was 'He had it coming' suddenly I walk pass dad and wave slightly to him. Dad nods before heading out the door to do one of his deliveries.

Well my dad wasn't the type to talk or give out his opinion; unfortunately I inherited some of that from him.

Mom sighs, again she didn't really get a simple 'see you later' from him, but after a few seconds she smiles, I figure that she knows dad will come back like he always does.

After that I went straight to my sister's doorway, and stood there for a few seconds before knocking and turning the knob.

"Taidama…" I greeted. "Okaeri…" She replied while she still laid on her bed. I walk in, and pull a chair so I could see near her bedside. "How are you feeling?" I ask. She nods and replies that she was alright, and that she was feeling better now. Then she added that she wants to go to school, but she wouldn't be able too. "That's right, I had a test today…and I missed it." She sighs. "Don't worry about it… It's better to be healthy during a test then sick when there is one." I pointed out. She smiles lopsidedly. "You're right." She admits, "I was just bored that's." She explains. That understandable, after all who wouldn't be bored if you had to lie in bed all day (and for the next few days).

I stood up and then asked her. "Do you want to play cards?" She nods and then sits up in her bed.

I left to room for a bit so I can find a card game that we can play.

I went downstairs, and grab a stool. Soon I climbed up on the stool and feel around for the deck of cards on top of mom's wine cupboard.

I stretched my fingers, and moved my hand to find it with only my fingertips. After five minutes, I felt and then close my hand into a claw before dragging it closer and closer to the front edge of the cupboard.

Finally I grabbed hold of it, and a deck of cards laid in my hands.

"Scáth, what are you doing?" Mom calls. I nearly fell off the stool, but my reflexes kicked and I grabbed on to the top of the cupboard. "Sorry…I was looking for this card game." I showed her the cards, and mom raises an eyebrow. "What are you going to do with those?" She asks. I told her that I wanted to play with Spéire so she won't be so bored. Mom nods, and then she tells me only for half an hour and then it's homework time. I nod, and then promised her that was all, no more, no less.

Soon I casually walked up the stairs and then went back Spéire's room.

She took the cards as soon as I sat back near her bedside and shuffled them around, soon she gives me seven pieces and then seven for herself. Soon the two of us engaged in a card game that we would call 'Dimes'.

The rules were simple if the player can finish all his cards first then he would be the winner. However if the player had cards that went above the number five then he allowed to call dimes, but he is not allowed to drop a card until the next player pulls out either a five (dime) then the second player can re-enter the game.

Now to win the game. Each one of the players must have four fives (dimes) and put it onto of the other, and the last person to put the five on the other player's card calls "dimes!" and wins the game.

After twenty minutes, neither of us actually won the game, and I look at my watch, and then sigh to myself. "Spéire I have to stop." I told her. She nods, and sets her cards down so I can collect it.

"Hey Scáth." She calls. I turn around and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" I ask. "I was wondering do you have any goals in life? Because I saw an empty look in your eyes just now…So are you happy?" She asks.

That was a tough question, life is just life whatever happens it's just a part of it, it's not a big deal if you're happy or not, it's just normal isn't it?

"Why you ask?" I wandered. She shakes her head, "Just curious." She explained. Odd I never thought about before...Why I am here anyway?

'_Snap out of it, Scáth.'_ I told myself mentally. _'There's plenty of time to worry about that, now it's time to focus on your studying and get a good job and try to live a normal life just like everybody else.'_ I added.

"Onii-chan." Spéire's voice broke my thoughts. And I look towards her, seeing her smiling face. "Try not to think too hard about it." She says tapping the side of her head, then she smiles for a bit and then chuckled. Yup, she was in her 'be all smiles' phase. "Anyway, thank you for the card game, I really enjoyed it." She says. I nod and replied your welcome before leaving her room to head to my own.

* * *

2:30 P.M

I started on my geography homework, and look at question eighteen for a second before letting my mind wander.

'_Maybe I don't really have a goal in life? I mean other people suggested that I be a scientist or biologist, maybe mathematician or an engineer like Denzel, or just a teacher at a high paying private school…I don't know where to go? Maybe I should help dad with his delivery service?' _ I thought all the possibilities about where I could go? And then I knew I was wrong about having plenty of time, I just have till the end of the next month before I can decide…So there's not that much time at all…

Soon I sighed and then told myself to get back to work when suddenly mom knocks on my door.

"Scáth I can come in? I brought you some ice tea just incase you wanted something to drink?" She announced. "Sure." I yelled so she could hear me. Soon she turned the doorknob and placed the ice tea on my study desk. "Look at you studying so hard, it makes me wonder if you ever get tired of it." She jokes. I shrug, after all she was the one who asked me to do my work, and besides I just started so it's not over yet. "Well when you're done don't forget to give your brain a rest okay? At least take a ten to twenty minute break." She reminds me before she leaves my room.

I nod and then I heard the door close, soon I was alone again. All that's left for me now is to finish my work.

* * *

5:00 P.M

Mom shouted that it was time for dinner. I pushed myself from my desk, and then then change into a simple white singlet, and loose dark blue cargo pants. Soon I just sat on my regular seat, right next to dad's seat.

Soon I saw Zean take his seat, and then I noticed that Spéire's seat was empty. "Isn't she coming down?" I ask mom, who was bringing the last piece of meal on the table.

"She was already on her way down, but I told her to stay in her room." She tells me. "So I'll bring her dinner to her room." She added, before she does what she was going to do.

Zean moves his hand to grab some food, but I slap his hand. "What do you say first?" I reminded him. Zean sighs and clasps his hands together before saying. "Itadakimasu." Then he grabs some of the food that he was aiming for. Soon I pick some of the food as well.

"Hey why do I have to say that I you don't!" Zean shouts. "Because I'm older." I told him while I put the first piece of steak in my mouth. "That's not fair! That means you're a hypocrite!" He comments. I decided to ignore him and just continue eating.

Mom comes down, and Zean complains that I didn't say 'itadakimasu' and that I made him say it.

Mom pats his head and tells him that she will have a talk with me about it. Well I guess I have to prepare myself for that.

"So Zean do you have anything interesting to tell me about school?" Mom asks, looking at him with a knowing. Zean freezes and then slowly looks up at her. "Well we had free time for math today…" He says.

Mom raises her eyebrow, yup she doesn't buy it. "Is that all that _happened_ today?" She adds. Zean grinned and nods, "Okay…Well I better be all." She adds. "If does anything else then I will deal with him." There was dad's voice as he came inside. "Okaerinasai." Mom greets. "Tadaima." Dad replies as he enters the dining room and takes his seat.

Soon dad picks some food and notices that Spéire wasn't there. "Is she eating upstairs?" He asks. Mom nodded. While I ate, I noticed that mom wasn't eating anything in particular. "Why aren't you eating?" I ask. Mom blinks twice, and then nearly all the attention was on her.

Mom sighs. "I have an upset stomach at the moment, so I don't think I will be able to eat anything tonight." She says. "Have gone to a doctor?" Dad asks. Mom eyes widen and then she shakes her head.

"Tifa don't forget to make an appointment, it's better to have it checked as soon as possible." Dad says.

Mom smiles lightly and then nods.

That night was spent like any other night, Zean was rushing to finish his meal first, and this time dad was the one who gave him a scolding, afterwards Zean and I had to help mom out with the dishes, when she covered her mouth with her hand. Then she looked like she was going to throw up. "Mom are you okay?" Zean asks. Mom looks at him, then gives a assuring smile. "Yes I'm fine––" She pauses looking unsure for a minute. "Can the two of you keep a secret?" She says. I put the drying towel down. And turned around to listen to what she had to say.

"For the pass few days, I've been feeling sick, there's certain smells that trigger nausea, and of course I've been having trouble sleeping…So what I am trying to say is there is a possibility that you will have another sibling." She says with a slight happiness and a slight uncertainty.

"That's so cool! So I won't be the youngest one anymore!" Zean cheered. Mom and I shushed him and then reminded him that dad and Spéire were sleeping upstairs. Zean apologizes. Mom replied it was alright, and then the three of us were back on dish duty.

Though I couldn't help but look at her after she announced that, and wondered was it a good idea to have a baby especially at her age? What were the risks for both her and the baby? Could she have a miscarriage?

_**Sigh**_…

I guess no one can no for sure, besides we don't even know if she was pregnant or not? And if she is, then all we can do is hope that this pregnancy will go well.

That's all we can do now…

Hope.

* * *

**Well there you go. Here's chapter two!**

**Any I hope you will like it, and I hope that Tifa's possible pregnancy won't be too much of a surprise or make the story seem so dramatic.**

**So please review and tell me what you think!**

**P.S**

**Sorry guys if the first chapter were confusing for some people, but I will tell you know that there will be times where the P.O.V will change. This is to give more insight of the characters, so you guys can read the story in a new perspective.**

**Anyway enough rambling.**

**Please enjoy the story, and look out for chapter three!**


	3. Wednesday

Wednesday 1:55 P.M

[Zean's P.O.V]

School was just like any other day, boring, boring, and _boring…_

I don't why I have to go and study? I mean I can survive on talents alone, c'mon I'm a good drummer, so all I have to do be a success is get in audition, make sure that I don't screw up…Then my future's secure.

_**Sigh…**_ Great fives minutes will seem like an eternity.

"Zean please don't slouch!" The teacher scolds. I hate her, I can't even relax for a few minutes…Does she have to use up every second too? I can't wait to get home, and then I can slouch all I want.

_Tong… tong… tong._

_Tong… tong… tong._

'_FINALLY!' _ Yes school's over! I shoved all my books in my book bag and rush out.

The teacher yells at me to come back because I haven't been excused yet. _'Like hell! I'm not going to spend another second in that prison!_

Ha! Ha! I'm free.

As soon as I saw the gate, I put my legs into overdrive and rush there as soon as possible.

Five seconds later I saw Scáth, as usual I call out to him. "Scáth!" He hears me, and then slowly turns his head to my direction, a second later I closed in on him, and then I bend over taking a few breaths to get my lungs working again.

"Zean, we're meeting mom in the clinic today so let's go." He tells me. I shot up and then nodded with excitement. Yes we get to know if she's pregnant or not! Scáth puts his hands in his pocket and then leads the way to the clinic.

Ten minutes later, we finally reached the place, the nurse who stood in the doorway led us to the waiting room. '_Great more waiting…' _ I thought. Scáth just leans back on the chair looked at door that had the name of Spéire's doctor on it. "So mom's trusting him to do the check up?" I ask. He nods. "Why wouldn't she trust him?" He adds. I don't know why, but there was something about the doctor that made me shiver and no it's not because I don't like doctors, but he doesn't seem right some how? "Hey you think he's not going anything creepy to her do you?" I suggested. Scáth looks at me slightly flabbergast ( Finally he can express shock at least!) "Why would you think that? He's a good doctor, if it weren't for him Spéire wouldn't be here now." He scolds me.

Well that was true, but still… I don't trust that guy and neither should Scáth…

You might be smart big bro, but you're shallow when I comes to life.

Soon the door opens and mom thanks the doctor. I stood up and wave so she could see us. Mom turns to us and waves back before heading our way. "So what did the doctor say?" I ask eagerly. "Well you will have to wait till your father gets home––" "Dad called me outside the school, he told me that he'll have a delivery to make in Wutai, so he won't be home tonight." Scáth informs us. _'Great…just when I was looking forward to it too…Dad has to go and spoil everything…Wait, Scáth does that too! Grrr…I can't stand them sometimes!'_

Mom nods profoundly, and then places her hand on my back. "Looks like you'll have to wait till your father comes home." She tells me. No…dad why did you have to pick today of all days to accept a delivery?

"Scáth did your father tell you when he was going to be back?" Mom asks, looking at Scáth now.

He shakes his head. _**Huff…**_That's so typical of dad to go off without telling anyone.

I look up at mom. Like always she's seemingly happy but deep down, I think she's sad, cuz dad's been away most of the time…

_Puh_. I don't really care about it, I still have mom and that's alright with me.

* * *

(Scáth's P.O.V)

I wonder what dad could be doing in Wutai? From the way he sounded on the phone, I could tell that it was something serious. Maybe it was better that I don't tell mom about it.

So when she asked, I just shook my head telling her that I didn't know why dad was there in Wutai.

"Mom let's go home." I suggested simply. Mom nods and follows behind me while I lead the way.

3:00 P.M

When we neared the bar, the three of us were met by an astounding sight. "Denzel!" Zean cries with glee. Denzel turns around traps Zean in a head lock then gives him a noogie. "Let go! Let go!" Zean shouts trying to pry himself out of it with no avail. "Denzel leave your brother alone." Mom tells him. Denzel then lets go gently. "So Tifa how have you been?" He asks mom. She replies 'never better' and then she adds that the four of us (including Spéire) we're doing well.

"That's good." He says. Mom asks where will he be staying for the night. He replies that he doesn't know. So she offered him to stay here for the night.

Later on during dinnertime, Spéire joined us (mainly because she wanted to see Denzel).

"So Denzel, has anything interesting happened lately?" Zean asks. "Nothing much, but a few gang members stealing a few engine parts." Denzel answered while taking a bite on some curry that mom made.

"Gang members?" Spéire turns to him in a worried manner. Denzel nods and explained to them that those members just took a couple of tools, but left anything valuable out.

Now that was just strange, why would they need tools? "But it's not that important, I can always buy more tools later on anyway." He adds. Mom looks at him sternly. "What do you mean it doesn't matter? Of course it does." She told as simply as that. "Mom's right Denzel, whoever is behind the stealing should be investigated." I add. "I suppose, but don't go overboard alright." He tells us (especially mom and I).

We both nodded and promised that we weren't going to overdo it, and we simply told him that we were going to call dad or Vincent so we know what they can find? In an instant mom walks over to the phone, and gives dad a call, but he doesn't pick up…so after letting out a sigh, she calls Vincent and he answers.

Mom told him what happened. Mom nodded to whatever he said on the other line.

After five minutes or so she hangs up. "Denzel Vincent will find out what he can and he'll let you know in the next few days." She tells him.

And that was that for the next few days that event was forgotten, and the days that follow were like normal.

Spéire recovered and then she was able to go to school, then she had to take the tests that she missed due to her absences. Then when the results came back she had received a high score of ninety in her test.

Mom was pleased.

Dad still hadn't come home yet, but mom send a text message to let him know.

And once again the three of us Strife siblings went to school together just like every other morning, and we go through school, hanging out with friends, dealing with school pressure, strict teachers and some teachers that you liked.

A month came back before anyone knew it, and soon the dance was a week away.

By this time dad had returned, and mom finally revealed her secret, she was pregnant. However it was a lot riskier now since because of her age.

When dad and I heard about the risks, he, Zean and I suggested that mom terminated the pregnancy. But she wouldn't have any of that, and Spéire was the one who supported her through.

Wednesday 2:30 P.M

Zean, Spéire and I were walking home from school as usual, when Spéire suddenly got the urge to do a little clothes shopping so she could have something nice to wear for the dance.

By four in the afternoon, we had already stopped by at least ten shops. "Onii-chan which one looks good to you?" She asks. I sigh and continued reading the magazine. Spéire. "Could you try to be a little supportive?" Spéire says. I shrug. "You don't have to worry about looking flashy or anything like that, it's just a dance." I said. She sighs. "You should lighten up a little, it would do you some good you know." She says. I didn't really care, I've heard that saying before.

"Hey shouldn't we be getting home?" Zean points out. Spéire looks at her watch. "Eh? You're right…Let's go!" She says rushing out, leaving the dress on the floor. Zean rushes out after her. I put the dress back on the hanger, and apologize to the employees and then run outside to catch up with them.

I caught up with them. Unfortunately we weren't the only ones that were in a rush.

A car pulls up in front of us, and then eggs were thrown. Most of them hits Spéire. Zean and I tried to shield her from it as much as possible. Soon the attacks stopped and then car drove off.

Spéire starts hiccupping, and that normally means she was getting ready to cry. "Stop it." I told her sharply. "If you cry, then that means you've lost your pride…Don't cry, don't let them know they've hurt your pride." I advised her. Spéire nods and wipes her tears.

Zean made a face and wipes yolk off his shirt. "Scáth we should find out who did it, and kick their butts!" Zean says throwing a fist in the air. "Don't resort to physical violence, especially if those 'kids' seem older than you…That means their bigger and most likely stronger as well." I tell him. But he just waves it off, and says he's not going to chicken out on any opponent no matter how big or strong they were.

Spéire slaps herself on the forehead. "Only idiots want to be all brawn and no brains." I commented on Zean as he head his back turned. "Hey! At least I'm willing to defend my own honor and then honor of my sister!" He shouts. I cover my ears with my hands, not wanting to listen to anymore…

Zean takes a big huff and then stomps forwards. Spéire smiles nervously and then follows casually after.

Mom was already standing in the entrance to the bar, with her arms folded. Then she immediately drops her arms and rushes to the three of us. "What happened?" She asks. "We just ran into a little trouble on the way here…" I answered.

Mom tells the three of us to get cleaned up.

Once we all were egg free, she called the three of us down to the bar. "Scáth I really think that you all need to learn some self-defense lessons…That way you three can protect yourselves." She says with a slight begging tone to it. I stood and said. " Mom I don't want to learn anything that involves hurting people…Even if it means protecting myself, it's still unjust." I told her.

Mom sighs. "If it's self defense, than it's acceptable." "I just want you all to be able to defend yourselves." She adds. "I think we should go for it." Spéire says. "I second it!" Zean says.

I sighed and then raised my hand, showing her that I agreed to it too. Well it wasn't like I had any choice.

"So when do the lessons start mom!" Zean asks punching his fist into the palm of his hand in excited manner.

"On the weekends after you finish your homework." Tifa answered. I didn't like where this was going.

"Cheer up Scáth…After all a strong mind does need a strong body. It's all about balance." Spéire says clapping her hands together. Well she did have a point there…It's all about balance after all.

I clenched my fist. "Maybe this will help me too…After all, I want to find something that I'm good at…That I can do instantly." I whispered. Mom shakes her head. " Nothing that achieved to perfection instantly…It requires practice." She says. I nod again, she was right.

"Now do you three, do you have any homework to do?" She asks. I shook my head, and so did Spéire, and of course Zean did too. But mom saw through that instantly. "I hope you aren't lying young man." She stated clearly. Zean rubs the back of his head in a nervous manner. "If you get grounded, I want you to remember it's not for my sake, but for your own." Mom says as she goes upstairs.

The three of us looks at her as she came back down with her gloves on her hands. "Mom?" Zean looks at her bewilder. Mom nodded casually. "Since you three don't have any homework. I will be training you." She tells us.

Now this was unexpected, we all knew that dad was a fighter, but to have mom know to fight too? That was way out of the ordinary, and I could no longer hold the urge to ask.

"Um mom, are you sure you know how to fight?" I ask. Mom smiles, and orders that I come at her. I shake my head, she nods. I sigh and then rushed forward.

Mom's face turned serious and she waited for her moment. As soon as I got close enough, mom grabs my arm and painful pulls and bends on my back, while she had one knee on resting near my spine. Then she forms her free hand in a karate chopping position and brings it down, but only let it the side of her hand kiss my skin slightly. Soon she releases the hold and helps me up.

"Sorry if I was too rough." Mom says. I shake my head and tell her it's alright, after all it wasn't my place to question her.

"Alright all of you upstairs, get your sport gear ready and then it's time for some training." Mom orders us.

Zean throws his fist in the air and yells, 'Alright'. Spéire smiles and then pats him on the shoulders, and comments how exciting this was.

Of course I didn't put much thought into it and did what I was told…

"Finally I can defend my pride!" Zean exclaims. I raised an eyebrow. Was this training really about pride or self defense?

* * *

**Well here's chapter three, and personally I'm not that happy with this, and I'm sure that this story is getting boring for some people.**

**Again I don't know why, but despite the fact it might be boring to some, I feel that I have to continue it.**

**Anyway, please read and review, like I said in the first chapter, I appreciate honesty!**


	4. Saturday

Saturday, 3:00 P.M

Today was the weekend. As usual mom and Spéire were having their all girl's day out, and they left dad, Zean and myself alone at home.

Zean sat upside down on bar's dining couch, with his sock covered feet on the cushion watching the TV set that was installed on the wall. Dad was busy making some food.

And I was sitting on one of the bar stools doing some homework.

"I'm so bored!" Zean says as he lifts up his arms. "Do something about it instead of complaining." I told him sharply. "Scáth that's enough…Zean come here." Dad says holding two plates of food.

Zean jumps in a push-up manner and runs to dad. Dad hands him one of the plates and tells him to eat on the dining tables.

Meanwhile dad places one of the plates near the bar stand, and sat on the bar stool next to mines.

Then he turns to me and opens his mouth to speak. "Scáth…You really need to learn to stop bossing people around and snapping at them too." He started.

Then he sighs and gets on the real subject. "As you know I just came back from Wutai…And I'm sure that all of you are wondering why I took so long there?" He pauses. I nodded.

He continues, "I've been thinking that we should all move there…" Dad says, then he pauses again and takes a short breath. "But I won't be able to move all of us, and I'm pretty sure that your mother will disagree, so now I'm giving you a choice…You can stay here with Zean and I'll take your mother and Spéire, or you can stay here all by yourself while the four of us go and live in Wutai?" Dad says giving me the choice. I turn to him. "You'll have to talk to Zean about this." I add. He nods and agrees that was right too. Then he tells me that everyone in the family will have a talk about it.

Zean walks over to the sink and washes his finished plate, and I thought well it was a good that he didn't hear our little conversation.

"Tadaima!" Spéire greets. "Okaeri!" Zean replies. Spéire enters the bar, holding a large shopping back with a picture of teddy bear on the bag. "Mom and I went shopping for some blankets and some clothes for when the baby arrives." Spéire announces with a smile.

Then mom comes in. "Actually it was her idea, though the baby won't be here for another eight months." Mom points out.

Dad comes closer to Spéire and takes the bag from her. Spéire smiles at him. And dad nods before giving his ghost of a smile, and then he goes up the stairs to put the bags away.

"Spéire do you want to help me cook dinner?" Mom asks. Spéire nods. Then Zean stands up and shouts 'I want to help too!' then he runs over to the kitchen.

I sigh and then stared at the photograph that hung on wall. It was a picture about the day that Spéire was born. That's right it was a bittersweet moment. "Scáth let's train some more!" Zean shouts.

I shrug and then nod. Zean looks excited and he gets into position first before making the first move.

I prepare myself and he rushes towards me. I grab his arm and lifted him off the ground, before throwing to the ground. Then I twisted and bent his arm behind him, before putting my knee on his back.

"Ow! Ok ok! I give! I give!" Zean says.

"Scáth!" Mom shouts after she hears the commotion. "So this why you stepped out of the kitchen for a minute?" She yells at Zean.

Zean chuckles as I released my hold on him. "Are you okay?" Spéire asks. Zean nods and rubs his chin. "Jeez you can really hit hard…" He mutters. Well he asked for it. "Scáth you should be so rough with him you know Zean might be hard headed but he's still an child." Spéire jokes. Zean turns around and points an accusing finger at her. "Hey I am not a child! I'm thirteen years old!" He yells like he just had his pride shattered. "That's––" Mom started but then ––

_**SLAM!**_

"Scáth!ScáthScáthScáthScáth_Scáth!_" Beira slammed the door open and then rushed in a panic.

"Beira what is it?" I asked. "Someone's set fire to the school! Come on I need your help to put it out!" She pulls me by the arm and then forces me to come along with her.

3:20 P.M

By the time we got there, the whole place was nearly burnt to a crisp. Beira handed me a bucket of water and then I threw the water towards the fires that I could reach.

But it was no avail. "The building's coming down!" Someone shouted. "Scáth move!" Beira shrieks.

My eyes widen something cracked and crumbled. Soon someone pushed me back. Soon we landed on the ground with a loud _**PAH!**_

I winced and then opened my eyes, soon I looked into the eyes of my cold red haired classmate.

She stands up before I could register what had happened. Then she looks down at me with that famous glare of hers. "You should be more careful you idiot." She says as she turns around to leave.

Soon the cracking sound turned into a crash, and a gush of wind came, blowing the smoke in our direction. Everyone coughed, and then I looked at the red haired girl, she stood there with her eyes opened like the ash didn't affect her at all.

Her hair blew in the wind, waving like flames. Soon she turns to me again. "You get out of here, everyone else is leaving." She says.

My eyes widen and without warning a strong hand pulled me out of the smoke. Soon I was slapped on the cheek. I snapped out whatever trance I was in and look at the person in front of me.

It was my father. I sighed and then closed my eyes. "I'm sorry…" I whispered. Dad looked at the damage and immediately furrows his eyebrows. "Who could I have done this?" He asks himself.

"No one knows…" Beira gasps as she looks at crisp black building.

An hour later the W.R.O came and took care of the situation. Soon they ordered that we leave the scene.

"Beira you can stay with us until Vincent arrives." Dad told her. Beira nods and then follows us to the bar.

5:00 P.M

We all had dinner like we usually did. But tonight was different, there was uneasy in the air…

Spéire was the first one to speak. "Where will go to school now?" She asks. Mom looks at her with uneasiness written on her face. "Nowhere." Dad answers. "Not around here anyway." He added. "What are you suggesting?" Mom demands. "We move." He answers.

Zean stands up. "And to where exactly? He can't just up and leave like that dad!" He argues. "What do you want us to do about it Zean, there's no other option." Dad says.

Zean hisses and then went up to dad, soon he moved his hand to punch him. But dad was faster, and then he gripped my little's brother's hand. "You might be my father, and I'll tolerate you, but I won't respect you!" He declared and then he pulls his hand away.

Mom stands and tries to call him back when he ran off, but she doesn't succeed. "So where will we move?" Spéire asks. "I don't know yet." Dad answers. That was real assuring.

"But if we do move… there's a possibility that I can't take all of you." He adds. Mom's eyes widen. "What do you mean?" She demands. I stand up. "Mom I talked to dad about this. He says that he wouldn't be able to support all of us in a different country...So one or two of us has to stay here." I explained.

Mom's eyes widen and then she turns to dad. Dad didn't even look at her, and then simply went sat back down and ate again. "Cloud don't just avoid this." Mom tells him. "What do you want to do about it?" He asks. "We need to think this through, and since you brought Scáth into this, it's his decision as well." She adds. Why was she bringing me into this? It's not a decision that should be made by a kid… then again, she was right dad did tell me about it.

I didn't want to be a part of it, so I just left… As simple as that. "Scáth. Scáth!" Mom called, but I ignored her and just went straight into my room.

This was awful.

The school got burnt down.

Spéire will never be able to go to the dance now.

There's a chance that dad will decide who will come with him and who will stay?

I closed my eyes and just sighed as I leaned back on the chair.

Soon someone knocked on my door. "Come in." I called. The door opened. "Onii-chan…" Came the weary voice of my sister. I straighten up and looked at her. Her face was red, her breaths came in long, weak, and tireless sighs. She takes a step forward and almost immediately fell down.

I rushed in to grab her before she hits the floor. Soon I felt her temperature. No good she was burning up. "Mom! Dad!" I shouted.

Their footsteps came in within seconds, rushing and bashing up the stairway.

Dad was the first one to see. "Scáth what is it––Tifa go call the doctor." He tells mom who was well behind him.

Mom nods and rushes back downstairs.

Dad carefully lifts Spéire up in his arms and takes her back to her room. "Scáth help me by getting a cold wet towel." He instructed. I nod and then head to the bathroom while he goes to her room.

I pull out a small white towel from under the sink and place it under the tap. Soon I turned the faucet.

The cold water came out instantly, soaking the towel in a matter of seconds.

After that was done, I rushed to Spéire's room and handed the wet towel to dad.

He immediately places it on her head, and just watches her there. Lying on her bed as her breaths now became more labored. "It's happening again…" I whispered.

Dad heard me and then he turns around. Soon he started to head out of room.

As he walked passed me, I could clearly hear him say. "Your sister is stronger than that." I spun around to get to talk some more, but he was already gone. I sighed and then I turned to my sister again, and thought about how things could have gone so bad?

Soon she moaned and then she opens her eyes. "Onii-chan…?" She croaks. I walk over and kneel beside her, and then held her hand. "I'm here." I told her. She smiles and then grasps my hand. Soon she looks down at our adjoined hands. "I'm not letting go don't worry." I assured her.

Then she tells me that it's not about me not letting go, but it's about what I want to do now or what I wanted to do for the future.

"Please I still have a long time to think about it…You just worry about your own future." I told her. She shakes her head. "I know I won't live that long Onii-chan, but I feel that being alive here for fourteen years has really taken a toll on me…" She sighs.

Oh right she wasn't fifteen after all…She's only fourteen, now I understand why dad was so hesitant.

"Though, I don't mind fighting a little longer, after all there's a lot of things that I want to experience, like motherhood and marriage––" "You mean married and then motherhood." I corrected her.

She sticks her tongue out playfully, realizing her wrong order of words. "Right, marriage first and then motherhood." She adds.

Soon we talked about random things like what to do tomorrow and all that…Soon she points out that since the school has been destroyed, we wouldn't have to worry failing a test or submitting an assignment late anymore.

It's funny, many people complained how hard school and how stressful it can be, but now that it's gone…There's like a sudden wave of realization that tides over your heart and mind.

Others would cheer about this, but others wouldn't care, and the rest of us would either worry about pursuing their dreams.

Well, what's going to happen now? No one can answer that now… Nobody…

* * *

**-End of the part one-**

**Well there you go! Chapter four(re-edited) and the end of the first part of the story! **

**Wow, I just noticed that this story is starting to take a life of it's own, and I honestly don't know what'll actually happen next (LOL) anyway please review! (Well you don't actually have to if you don't want to, but I will really appreciate it if you do so I can improve on any spelling or missing words or grammar issues!)**

**Anyway please enjoy the story and look out for Part Two!)**

**-LiteratureStarter-**

**P.S I want to thank Ristort for the tip about my error in Tifa's pregnancy! (Take it easy guys I'm still in high school and I don't know that much about pregnancy so bear with me if I make errors like that)  
**


	5. Chapter One Part II: Thursday

Three months later.

Thursday, 9:00 P.M

Edge. The once recovering city now lived in fear since the number of gang wars was growing in each passing day.

And this past week, three different groups of gangs managed to damage the bar. Windows, walls, the glass door was broken and the alcohol.

That was the last straw, and dad's plan went into action. Mom packed all her clothes, baby items, and some money. Then the last thing that she puts in her bag was our complete family picture.

That's right it was after Zean had been born, and a week before Denzel left to pursue a career as an engineer.

The six of us ( Mom, dad, Denzel, Spéire, a one month old Zean, and I) went to Kalm for a four day holiday, and we decided to go to the beach (thus explaining our swimsuits).

I thought _why couldn't things as they were?_ Why must everything change?

"Scáth?" Mom calls from the doorway of my room. I open my eyes as she broke me from my thoughts. "Come on now, you need to start packing since we're leaving tonight." She reminds me.

_I'm not going. _"Mom, I'm staying here." I told her. She stops herself from going through my drawer. Then she slowly turns her head towards me. "I'm staying, this my home…And I will defend it." I explained.

"So I see…" Mom sighs as she moves her hand from the drawer handle. Soon she places her hand on her small bulge. Suddenly she turns around to face me fully. "Scáth I don't know what else to say but 'please come with us'" She begs.

I knew what she was feeling, the horrible worries of a mother who was about to leave her child in a very dangerous environment. But there was one thing that she had to remember.

I'm not a child anymore.

"Mom you already know the answer, and there's nothing in the world that can make me change my mind at the moment." I told her. She sighs and then looks away. I went over to her, but then she tries to push me away, and then she doesn't. Though she still refused to meet my eyes.

"I'm sorry…" She says. I knew she was talking about the almost push. "Scáth it's just that…it's so dangerous here, and it's not only the bar that can damaged, you can get hurt or killed." She pauses. "I'll stay with you." She says. I shake my head. "You need to worry about the baby inside you. So mom go to Wutai, and that's an order." I say. She looks up at me. "Who are you to order me around?" She demands in a gentle way. I simple smirk to one-side and mom just smiles.

It was a nice bittersweet moment between a mother and her son.

9:30 P.M

Dad attached a cart to the back of the fenrir while mom, Zean and Spéire stood on the sidewalk.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us onii-chan?" Spéire asks. I nod with certainty. She simply chuckles and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. "It wouldn't be same without you…" She sighs.

I place my hand on her shoulder and gave it a gently squeeze of assures. She smiles and nods. Soon she closes her eyes and then starts hiccupping. "Sorry –hiccup–I k-know I shouldn't be crying –hiccup– but…but I can't…" She apologizes. "So is it okay to cry onii-chan?" She asks.

I nod and said. "Hai." She runs to my arms and then starts crying on my shirt. Soon I wrapped my arms around her trembling form.

After a few minutes she looks up at me with tears still running down her chin. I wipe it way with my thumb and then look at her straight in the eye.

"Spéire since I won't live you all anymore, you're the eldest of the family and you have to be strong for mom, dad, Zean and the new baby understand. Be strong when our parents can't." I told her.

Spéire nods and forces herself to stop crying. "I promise to be stronger now, for mom, dad and our siblings." She vowed.

We heard Zean sigh, and then we turned to see him standing in front of us with his arms folded.

Suddenly he punches hard me hard on the shoulder. "That's the first of the punches I owe you, so don't die until I can pay it all off!" He orders then he rushes off to the fenrir.

Dad lifts my thirteen-year-old brother into the cart.

Spéire then heads to the cart. Mom helps her up and then climbs up herself. I closed my eyes. Trying to ignore the pang of sadness in my heart.

Soon I heard the thumping of dad's boots getting closer and closer to me. I open my eyes and there he was, now right in front of me.

We both just stood there unable to think of anything to say…After all we didn't really have a social relationship, in fact I don't think dad really opened up to anybody…

Dad takes a deep but silent breath, and looks straight at me, now he says, "Take care of yourself." Soon he turns around to take his leave.

Without warning, my body acted on autopilot. "Dad…" I called. Dad turns around and hugged him. He immediately starts to get tense, and I let go. "Sorry…I didn't mean to go that far…" I sighed. Dad nods in understanding. "Don't worry about it. I actually wanted to do the same thing, but I figured you were too old for that…hmmm…well I guess I was wrong." Dad says.

"Anyway, I better go." He adds as he continues to head to the bike.

As he walked, I saw something drop from him to the street. I look down and saw one dark spot made from something moist like water…or a tear?

_**Sigh…**_

'_Oh dad.'_

He covered mom and my siblings with a cloak and then mounted the bike.

Dad puts on his goggles and then turned on the ignition before speeding off. I closed my eyes and hoped that they will be able to slip out quietly without being caught.

Two days later.

The day started as usual… I had to open the bar and then clean up the mess from last night's gang war.

I swept away the pieces of broken glass.

Suddenly two legs appeared in front of me. I look up and saw Beira there. "Hey Scáth." She greets with her cheerful voice. I nod and replied 'Hi' back as I continued to sweep the glass.

Soon she tries to peek behind me. "Is Spéire here?" Beira asks. I hesitated and look back up at her.

Should I tell her that my parents up and left a couple of days ago? Or I should keep that to myself? After all she has the biggest mouth in the whole city of Edge. "Sorry but she's not here at the moment…She went with mom on a shopping day, Zean's out with friends, and dad's making his deliveries like usual." I lied.

"And you're a terrible liar!" She giggles. That was not amusing…

_Sigh_… "They've moved, and I chose to stay behind." I explained. Beira expression immediately saddens. "You should have gone with them while you had the chance." Beira sighs.

What did she mean while I had the chance? "What are you talking about?" I ask. "Scáth many people tried to leave and most of them got caught and killed. If you try to leave chances are they'll find you and you'll be killed." Beira sighs.

I slowly stand up and looked at her wide-eyed. "Beira what's going on, gang members can't just force us to stay in the city." I told her.

She nods and then nervously told me that the number between the two gangs here in Edge have grew immensely, going over from thirty to a hundred in a week.

"The W.R.O is trying to stop them by any means necessary, but so far those gang members have managed to beat them every time."

I looked at Beira when she explained the situation.

'_What have I gotten myself into?' _ No snap out of it…I chose this and I'll deal with the consequences.

"Scáth you seriously need to get out of here." Beira warns me. I shake my head. "I'll get some more self-defense classes and I'll need to put some metal bars in the inside of the bar––"

"Scáth you don't get it! They have enough power to take over the W.R.O!" Beira shouts. I clenched my fist. Damn if I stay here any longer it'll be harder for me to leave…

No…Okay get a hold yourself Scáth this is your home and you made a promise to stay and protect this house.

"I can't go, I made a promise to stay and protect my home and if I'll die doing it, then so be it Beira." I told her.

Soon a loud boom made the ground beneath our feet tremble. Beira lost her balance. I got down on my knees and then grab her hand to stop her from falling backwards.

"Whoa!" Beira exclaims as she falls over me.

I lie flat on the ground.

Soon a large gust of wind and smoke came. Beira and I coughed, and then I forced myself to open my eyes and there was nothing but smoke. Beira soon pushed herself up and starts running with her eyes closed and watering.

I pushed myself up to get a better look, and there was red in the distance…

It started to grow bigger and bigger…Not only that it was suddenly getting hotter too.

My eyes widen when I realized what it was.

Suddenly.

"_**BAKARU!" **_Beira punched in the back of the head and grabbed my arm within a split second.

We were running for our lives in no time.

People were screaming, and some couldn't get out of the way in time, instantly burnt into a crisp.

"In here!" A voice shouts, judging by the way this person sounds, I'd say he was in his late teens or early twenties.

Soon Beira and I were grabbed by the collar of our shirts and then pulled into a building.

Beira screams and I shield her, but whoever pulled us in used his or her body to shield us both as well.

The smoke and the fire screeched from outside, and continued on to for ten minutes. During that time, I was thinking: _'What was going on out there? Will the W.R.O be demolished?' _

My eyes widen and then I stood up. "Reeve!" I ran for the door when suddenly a flash of black dashes to the door.

"Whoa kid!" The voice says. I look at the person in front of me. My first hunch was correct this person was at least in his early twenties.

He had short straight hair, a long thin nose, and green eyes. He wore something like an old SOLDIER's uniform… wait.

Wasn't SOLDIER extincted? "Are you in SOLDIER?" I asked. The young man looks down on his outfit, and just laughs. "What me?" He sneers in amusement. "Nawh, I'm a hobo!" He jokes. I raised an eyebrow. Beira then starts chuckling. "Well what's your name?" He asks her. "Beir––" "Excuse me?" I interrupted her. "You still haven't answered my question." I reminded him.

He clears his throat and pounds on his chest. "I'm Rothair!" He says in cheerful attitude.

Soon he waves his arm at the both of us, "And who might you two be?" He asks in polite. Beira smiles and says. "I'm Beira Valentine." "Scáth Strife." I said. Soon he puts his hands on his hips and looks at us in an observant manner. "Hmmm…" He goes as he bends down very closely to me.

In fact our noses nearly touch…

I blinked twice. Soon he heads to Beira and looks at her in the same manner. Bending close to her while he cups his chin with his index finger and thumb. "You're cute!" He declares as he straightens himself up quickly while he gave her a thumb up. Beira chuckles. "Thank you." She says.

This is irritating…How could he be flirting at a time like this?

Forget it…It's none of your business Scáth.

"Is it safe to go out now?" I ask. Rothair looks at me and then blinks twice. "Oh yeah I almost forgot!" He announces. Now I felt a vain in my head practically start to throb harder in annoyance.

Soon he heads to the door and lies his head on the doorway with his eyes closed. After a few minutes he opened them. "The other side of this door is still slightly hot, despite the heat it's pretty safe to go out!" He says with cocky grin and another thumbs up.

'_Can't he take anything seriously!'_ I thought.

"Thank for the warning, now will you please excuse us, Scáth and I will like to take our leave now." Beira says. "Then will you permit to take you?" He asks her. Beira nods and smiles widely.

Soon he pushes her behind him lightly and tells her to brace herself. Beira nods and puts on a brave face.

He opened the door and this enormous gush of wind came. Rothair closes his eyes and forced himself to stay on that one spot. I covered my face with my arms.

A few seconds of silence came, and the wind finally succumbed. Soon Beira gasped. "Whoa…" Rothair says. I lower my arms and then approached them. Soon I felt frozen in fear at the scene before me.

Everything was gray due to the cloud of dust. Many people were limping a way in pain.

Beira shakes her head in disbelief and then rushes forward towards the now rubble covered streets. "Papa? Papa!" She calls for Vincent.

At that moment I knew that the bar was gone…and so was half of the city. "Monsters…" I muttered under my breath.

I look at the wounded citizens passing through me. I saw two blurred forms coming out of the shadows.

As the forms got closer I saw it was Vincent helping a wounded woman out. "Beira! He's over here!" I reported. Beira shot up and then rushed to my side. Soon she blinks twice, and immediately starts crying in relief.

"Papa!" She shouts as she rushes to him. Vincent slowly lifts his head and sees her there. He raises his free arm to stop her, and asks her to help. Beira nods and lifts the woman's other arm. Soon the three of them made their way away the wreckage and closer and closer to the clean land. They laid the woman against the wall, and Vincent let out a soft sigh, knowing they were safe for now.

Beira then hugs him from behind. Vincent slowly turns his head to look at her. "Are you alright?" He asks. Beira nods and then lets go. Vincent stands up and she does too.

He looks at the damages. "Half of the city is gone..." Beira whispers. "This was no accident." Vincent observes. "How do you know?" I demanded. He explained that many items of from the W.R.O were stolen. "Most of the items that they took was enough to build at least two bombs to destroy the whole city…My guess is, this is just a warning." He adds.

"Papa…" Beira blinks. I clenched my fist and stared at the ground. "Fortunately the W.R.O didn't suffer any damages so you kids are safe for now." Vincent tells us. "But what if they come after us? After all Papa, you're part of the W.R.O." Beira points out.

Vincent simply turns and heads out without showing even an ounce of fear. "Beira let's go." He calls her. Beira nods and follows him. I just stood, looking at the damaged city. After all my home was one of the buildings that got destroyed.

"Scáth you want to come?" Beira asks, standing a few feet away from me. I turn back and nodded reluctantly.

"Hey Beira I'll see you around okay?" Rothair shouts as he waves at her. Beira nods and then waves back.

Vincent looks back at him and then at her, but remains silent and just continues to lead the way.

Beira was humming and smiling through out the whole way. After a few minutes I asked. "So what's gotten you in such a happy mood?"

She stops and then blushes slightly. "It's nothing! It's nothing! You have to believe me it's nothing!" She squeals waving her arms in desperation. I raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to over react like that." I told her. Beira stops and starts chuckling nervously. "You're right…" She sighs, then says, "Hey Scáth will you promise not to tell Papa?" I nod.

She whispers the answer to my ear, and I blink twice. "He's not going to mind and you know it." I told her. "Still this is very private stuff––Hey are you alright?" She asks. I shrug. "I don't know, I know it sounds selfish, but I just loss my home, so how do you think I feel?" I told her

She blinks twice and says. "Oh…Right sorry…" I told her it was alright. After that we didn't talk for the rest of the way.

8:00 P.M

Vincent had left an hour earlier to handle some W.R.O work, so Beira and I were alone. I was in their sitting room and Beira was in the kitchen making some tea. "I have to call my parents and let them know I'm alright." I told her. She shouted 'Telephone's by the window.' From there I stayed quiet and then went over to the phone and dialed dad's number.

It started the regular dialing tone, and I waited for a few minutes but no one picked up. I hang up and tried again.

Once again he didn't pick up, and I tried for a third time…still I got the same results.

Finally I gave up and just sighed. Now I was worried…did they make it out all right or not? How will they know if I'm all right?

"Tea's ready!" Beira shouts as she brings the kettle from the kitchen. Beira brings the kettle in by the handle and places it on the table. Soon she goes over to the cupboard and pulls out two teacups. Finally she places it on the separate ends of the table.

I closed my eyes and didn't make a sound as I heard the tea being poured into my cup.

"You're really worried about your parents aren't you?" She says. I opened my eyes and looked at her.

"I may not know what it's like to be completely alone, after all I still have papa, but you're welcome to stay here as long as you want!" She says cheerfully, then she whispers. "Besides I need boy advice, and you're the first person that came to mind."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and then sighs. "I just lost my home and all you can worry about is boys!" I snapped.

Beira eyes widen as she holds her cup closer to her. Finally she sighs and looks downcast, "Sorry, I was just trying to lighten you up that's all…" She sighs. I rubbed my face with my hand and stayed quiet after that.

"Well I can ask papa to give your dad a call, maybe he can get through." Beira points out.

I press my hands over my head and then pressed my face on the surface, and cried silently.

Beira takes a breath and then I heard the feet of her chair slide across the floor, and seconds later she was rubbing circles around my back. "It'll be okay you know…I'm sure they'll be fine, and you'll get a new home soon, you'll see." She tried to cheer me up.

Then I forced myself to regain my composure, after all men shouldn't cry really…

Suddenly I remember what mom use to tell me when I was younger…

_I was five years old, and it was after school._

_I stood in the back of school wall, bruised and beaten with cuts across my face and legs. I closed my eyes with my fist clenched and face scrunched in struggle._

"_Scáth?" Mom called. I jumped and turned around. And there she was with concern written all over her face. She rushes towards me and tries to touch the wounds, but I just moved back. _

_She blinks twice and asks what's wrong. Soon I felt the familiar stings in the corner of my eyes, and immediately shut them._

_Mom sighs and I open them to see her smiling reassuringly at me. "What's wrong?" She asks again. "I can't…" I started. "I can't…cry." I stated. Mom chuckles and looks right at me. "Why do you think that you're not allowed to cry?" She asks. I told her, dad doesn't cry, Denzel doesn't cry and she doesn't cry so I shouldn't either._

"_I'll let you in a little secret." Mom says then she bends down and whispers. "Even your father and I cry sometimes…" My eyes widen and then I look up at her. "Really?" I asked, breathless from astonishment. She nods, "When things get too hard it's alright to cry, crying helps keep us from losing ourselves." She says. I nod, and then asked. "Mom if I cry, will you cry too?" She shook her head. "Don't worry about that Scáth…The important thing is you can cry when you feel hurt inside, and I will be there to cheer you up…So come here." She says as she opens her arms to me._

_I stood there for a few minutes completely stunned, and then the tears started. Before I knew it was already running to my mother's arms and started crying my heart out._

_I didn't know what happened except that everything just blacked out, and when I woke up I was back in my room. Soon I heard my mom, dad and Denzel talking downstairs._

"_Cloud, he's getting picked on there." Denzel speaks. "We need to find him a better school where he can fit in." He reasons. "That's out of the question." Dad says._

_I slowly walk downstairs to see more about whatever they were talking about. "Cloud, Denzel's right. Scáth needs a place where he can fit in." Mom adds. _

"_We can't––" Dad starts when he notices mom looking at me in the doorway. "Mom what's going on?" I ask. Mom turns to Denzel. He nods and then walks over to me. Soon I was in his arms, and he carried me upstairs. "What are they talking about?" I asked. "Nothing that little kids need to worry about, especially when it's past their bed time." He points out. "But the clock says seven… I don't go to bed for another half hour." I reminded him. Denzel sighs and looks at me. "Well never mind…but it's not something you want to hear." He told me. I nod as he carried me all the way back to my room._

_Finally I fell asleep again. Then what seemed like a few minutes later, "Tifa it'll be alright…" Denzel says from downstairs. I heard mom sobbing slightly. "Denzel this is the tenth time this month…And this time it's getting worst…I'm not sure what to do? Should I home school him at home? Sure it may be safe but he'll have no socializing skills and it's bad enough that he's shy." Mom sighs. _

_I stood on top of the stairs, continuing to listen. "Denzel if this gets any worst I don't know what I'll do." Mom tells him._

_Soon she starts crying slightly. I closed my eyes and thought it was my fault, and that I shouldn't cry in front of her again…That's when I made that promise to myself, if I was ever in pain or distress, I would never ever cry…no matter how bad things get, maybe that way mom wouldn't worry about me anymore…_

_From that moment on, whenever I felt sad I would just draw and if I were angry I would listen to music and do my homework to distract myself from crying, and no matter how much they bully me I will never cry no matter how much it hurts._

I look up at Beira and nodded. "Thanks Beira, I'm sorry that I snapped at you before." I told her. She patted me on the back. "No problem Scáth!" She announces. I muffle a chuckle and looked outside the window.

The city was still in smoke from the accident that occurred a few hours ago. I might have lost the bar, and possibly my family too…but I know now that I have to hold on and worry about the future, I can't change what has happened but I can change what will happen.


	6. Chapter Two Part II: Sunday

Wutai, three days later.

Sunday, 8:00 A.M

I saw Zean's eyes widen as we watched the news from our quarters in the palace. "Oh man…" Zean exclaims. The hiccups soon start and then cover my face with my hands.

"Dad…" Zean says. I lift up my face and turned around.

Dad's standing behind me, with his full attention on the TV. There was an expressionless look on his face, but not his eyes. He was shocked and worried about Scáth...after all we tried to get hold of him and Vincent but the lines in Edge were cut off, and there's no way to know if he was alive or dead?

Finally he closes his eyes and sighs, I'm guessing he's preparing himself for the worst.

"Dad do you think he's alright?" I know it wasn't appropriate to ask, but I felt the need too. "I don't know. But if he didn't make it, we'll try and move on with our lives." He states simply.

"Move on! He could be alive in there and you're not going to help him! What kind of father are you?" Zean shouts. Dad turns to him and looks down on the floor, his eyes shifting in worry. "I'll tell you what kind of father you are! You're the worst! You're neglectful, a jerk! And selfish! You're a bast––" "Zean that's enough!" I snap. Zean and dad shot up and turn towards me, shocked at my sudden out burst. Tears ran down my face. I felt myself wheezing, but I ignored it. "I know what you're feeling Zean that gives you no right to insult him like that!" I add.

Zean's eyes widen and then he sighs. Scáth made me promise him that I would have to be strong for him, and that's what I'll do.

"But sis…he's the worst father that anyone can ever ask for." He grumbles. My eyebrow furrows. "He might be neglectful, he might not express himself that well, and sometimes he can be selfish especially when it comes to personal business." I paused and turned dad for a minute with a smile on my face, "But he protects, and he keeps secrets because he **is**__protecting us." "And I don't think that Scáth's dead…no, he's too stubborn to die." I joked.

"You're very weird, one minute you're crying and the next minute you're all happy and joking..." Zean mumbled. I chuckle, "Well maybe its because I don't want to stay sad all the time, after all it's better to face life's hardships with a smile on your face instead of a frown." I pointed out.

Soon I took a step forward, and then everything started to black out. Before I knew it I was on the floor, hearing dad's and Zean's footsteps rushing towards me. Within seconds I was in dad's arms as he rushes to the physician's ward.

A hand rested on my forehead, and at this point everything was blurred, I couldn't tell who was who.

Then everything went black.

"Spéire. Spéire." Mom calls. I turn my head to where I heard her voice, and open my eyes.

There she was, looking at me with a smile of relief on her face. "Thank goodness…" She sighs. I move my head around the room and blink twice. "What happened?" I ask. She smiles again and then explains that I fainted after intervening in an argument between dad and Zean.

I nod and replied that I remember. Soon I took a look on mom's bulged stomach. "So do what it is?" I ask. Mom chuckles. "I'd like it to be a surprise, but I feel that it's a girl, maybe two." She said.

I close my eyes and smile. "I hope so." I told her. Then mom faces the window, and stares in the south direction. "I wonder how your brother is? In fact I wonder how is everyone is over there?" She sighs in a sad note. I slowly sat up in bed and stare at her. Mom sees this and she turns to me again with a smile on her face. "Did you hear the news?" I guessed. Mom nods and she looks at me with tear filled eyes. "He's alive Spéire. Believe me, I would know if he's dead." She says. "Do you really know?" I asked to make sure.

Mom then shakes her head. "No, but it helps to say that I do." She says. I look down on the bed, and I see mom's hand clutching the blanket tightly. I covered her hand with mines and squeeze it tightly. Mom jumps slightly and she stares at me. "Onii-chan told me that I have to be strong when you or dad can't." I told her. Mom nods and then leans closer to the bed. I wrap my arms around her, and she did the same. "It's alright for you to cry too you know mom." I whispered. Mom nods, and seconds later I felt two tears hitting my shirt.

Three years later, in Edge.

"Beira can you get a clear shot?" I radioed from a W.R.O helicopter. "I can't, there's too many people in the way Scáth!" She replies.

"Kuso…" I cursed. Beira scolded me for swearing on the radio. But I don't really care. In fact I haven't been caring about anything lately (well except for work), but I wasn't there for Beira and Rothair's wedding (Rothair actually proposed to her on their third date).

I couldn't think about anything else but work, I forced myself to make that my only priority. Dating or starting a family would be the last thing on my list…

No it's probably not even on my list, I didn't want to go through that pain again, the pain of not being able to reach out to your loved ones…they could be dead for all I know and if they were alive, they'd probably think I'm dead.

_Alright that's enough…Now it's time to find our culprit._

That's right, for the past two years the W.R.O administered the plan to eliminate each of the newly formed gang leaders, and that's what Beira and I are doing right now.

"Scáth! He's just left the building!" Beira reports. I nod and then unbuckled the seatbelt, soon I opened the latch, and look down.

"Scath do you know what to do?" My commanding officer asks me. I nod. "Now try to keep it clean." He jokes in a serious tone as he folds his arms. "Hai." I said as I got down on one knee in a bracing position.

The marker said 'go' and I jumped off and landed on a building rooftop. Soon I found the target greeting a woman… a woman with red hair. I smiled, that was my former classmate, and now a W.R.O member, she's our secret weapon.

Her job is to get in and close with the enemy, find information and report back to us, and that's where I come in, when the information is gathered, I come into the building take care of the defenses and arrest the gang leader, that is if he comes in willingly, if not then I have to use brute force, and last time I did that it didn't end well.

I follow her and the target. They stepped inside a small bar. I heard a click from the radio, and I listened in.

"So how do you feel about the arrestments of other gang leaders?" She asks. "Well it is kind of worrying but then again it's good for business if you know what I mean?" He replies.

She smiles and then nods. "So you're not worried about being captured at all?" She asks. He waves it off and tells her not to worry. After the basics, he made some seductive hints. She just chuckles and asks if it was alright for them to go to his place?

The process of tricking and drugging him was somewhat disgusting, but it wasn't my place to question her skills.

Soon they left the bar and I followed them by jumping the rooftops.

Afterwards I saw his house, and stopped on a building next to his. Afterwards I reached for a pair of binoculars from the pocket of my uniform. Soon I watched as she slipped some pills in the gang leader's wine.

Soon she brought the cup of wine to the leader. It wasn't long till he took the first sip, and almost instantly the drug begun to take effect.

Within minutes he was finally unconscious. Soon I jumped to that rooftop and landed, trying to be as quiet as possible. Unfortunately that didn't work as well, and the sensors went off.

"Dammit…" I muttered under my breath, soon I pulled out my rifle and got myself ready.

Man this would be so much easier if I had a sword with me. The guards came up with their guns and swords.

I look around, counting mentally.

Great there's thirty of them and only one of me. The firing started, and I leaped in the air. They tried to shoot me in the air, but it was little avail, and landed behind of them and shot him on the shoulder. I moved quickly and shot more hitting them in places like the shoulder, neck, stomach and foot.

When the firing squad was down, it was the close range attackers turn. I tossed my empty gun away and got into a fighting position. The first one came with his claws. I forcefully snap it, before throwing him backwards. The next one was right behind him and I punched him in the stomach and then threw him off the building.

Finally two came at me at the same time. My expression remained serious and I backflipped into a handstand, then kicked them both on faces.

"Shit this guy is strong…" One of the two remaining fighters says in fright. "So this is the skills of WARRIOR…I'm out of here!" The second exclaims. I leaped and then landed right in front of them.

"Shit he isn't just a WARRIOR…This is the Shadow WARRIOR…the strongest ones of them all…" The first one cringes in fear.

"That's right…" I said in an unholy voice as I slowly walked over to them. "And no one can escape from Shadow." I add while I stood in front of them.

The first one makes a 'Tck' sound and shouts "DIE!" While charging at me with a knife at his hand.

I grabbed his wrist and crushed it hard before finally ending the fight with a punch to his gut.

His dagger fell on the floor, and then I picked it up, and turned on the side to block the other fighter from injuring me. With one swing, I sent his dagger flying from his hand and to the air.

He fell backwards in fear, and then scrambled backwards on his feet. "P-Please don't kill me!" He begged, "L-Let's talk something out…I have money, you can take all of it! Please don't kill me!"

I narrowed my eyes and pressed the knife against his neck. He instantly paled and the eyes rolled in the back of his head.

Seconds later he fell on the ground instantly unconscious.

Two thumps came from behind me and I turned around and there was my commanding officer.

"Looks like you've managed to restrain yourself this time." He points. I saluted and said. "Sir." In a respecting manner.

"I've heard a lot of about you Scáth, you're presumed to be an orphan––have you tried finding your family?" He asks. I shake my head. "No sir, I'm pretty sure that they are no longer alive…as much as I hate to admit it, but I don't think they made it pass the gangs all those years ago…" I said as my fist automatically clenched. "If your family were alive, then will you go looking for them?" He asks. I nod without a moment's hesitation. "Without a doubt." I replied.

"Where did you say you're family were planning to go?" He wonders. I told him that they were planning to head to Wutai.

"What a perfect choice for a residential spot…yes it's a perfect place for one of our division bases…" He adds.

"Bases sir?" I questioned. My commanding officer chuckles and excuses himself. "That's right, though it's not actually confirmed, however I will tell you this, the W.R.O has some interest in expanding it's central roots to other parts of the world, just for international safety of course…but like I said, it's not confirmed, though it will be taken to consideration, and who knows you might get the chance to help out if there will be a base in Wutai that is."

My eyes widen, go to Wutai? No I can't…my family was dead…but maybe they're alive? Of course…they must be alive!

No, no. Stop and think clearly for a minute Scáth, they haven't heard from you for three years…maybe it's not a good idea to meet them. I sighed and closed my eyes.

Wutai.

I opened my eyes to look at the docks of this amazing country. A breeze came and blew on my long ribbon tied brown hair.

"Spéire!" Anemone called. "Sissy!" Antheia calls at the same time. I smile and bent down to greet my adorable three-year-old sisters. "Is daddy here yet?" They asked at an unison. I patted both their heads. "He's not here yet––" "Wrong again sis!" Zean announces.

"Zean!" The twins squealed without warning they ran and tackled him to the ground.

"Ow!" Zean exclaims as he bangs the back of his head on the ground. He sits and rubs the back of his head while going 'ow ow ow ow…' over and over. The twins just chuckled.

And so did mom. I stood up to look at her. She walked over wearing a nice white long sleeved shirt and a long yellow colored skirt. "Mama!" Antheia calls happily as she runs to her arms.

Mom opens her arms to her, and caress Antheia's shoulder length chocolate brown hair.

It was a miracle that mom was able to give birth to identical twins, especially at her age, and it was fun having little sisters, especially when they're as adorable as this.

"Mommy I want a hug too!" Anemone says as she walks over to mom gently. Mom smiles and opens her arm to her as well. Anemone smiles and snuggles against her arm. Suddenly the sound of a bag dropping came, and everyone turned to where the sound came from.

I slowly walk towards him with my arms behind my back. "Dad are you okay?" I ask. Dad nods, "I'm just a little tired from the journey back." He assures. I chuckled. "You're getting old dad." I joked lightly. He forced out a small chuckle. But then looked away to see a eighteen year old boy hugging, and greeting his parents. They're laughing and reuniting after being separated for three months.

"Okaerinasai." Mom greets. "Okaeri!" The twins greets. Dad nods again. "Tadaima." He replies. Mom smiles.

Anemone goes over to dad and tugs his pants then looks up. "Pick me up." She requests. Dad smiles lightly and lifts her up, so she could ride on his shoulders as they walked to their recently bought house.

9:00 P.M

Mom tucked in the twins as they rested on their futons. Anetheia subconsciously sucked her thumb while she was gently pulling on Anemone's hair. Mom chuckles and tucks away a strand of her hair.

Meanwhile I was out at the porch, serving dad some of my home made dinner.

"You know didn't have to make this." He said. I nod and said. "But you look tired."

Then I chuckle, and added. " But I wanted to, after all you're my dad and if it weren't for you and mom, I wouldn't be the person I am today…so it's alright if I could help you out like this." I said wholeheartedly.

Dad remains quiet for at least ten minutes. I blink twice and look over. His eyes were closed, and he looks at peace for once. I watched his chest breath in and out. "After all the hard work you've done dad, you deserve a break…" I whispered.

Soon I heard a shushing and I look up to see mom coming standing up with a blanket in her arms.

She goes on her knees and wraps the blanket around dad. "He must be exhausted from the journey back." She points.

Zean then snores loudly as he lies asleep, with his blanket dismantled, his pillow kicked to the floor, and his body resting on a twenty-five degree angle. "He's not the only one who's exhausted." I chuckled.

Mom smiles in agreement, and then she looks up at the starry sky and then she closes her eyes and folds her hands in prayer. I look at her and assumed that she's praying till the day Scáth can come back to us.

Finally she opens her eyes and stands up. "I'm going to bed now, try not to stay up to late alright?" She tells me with a gentle voice. "Okay." I replied. Mom says goodnight and I said goodnight back.

Then I look up at the stars too, and gets into a praying position. Soon I closed my eyes. "Please…Please keep everyone I care about safe…" I prayed, then I open my eyes and saw a shooting star. Soon I closed my eyes again and made that silent prayer.

In Edge.

11:00 P.M

"Cheers!" Beira and Rothair hollered as the three of us cling our wine glasses together. "That was a great mission! Scáth you were totally awesome!" Beira praised me before she took a sip.

I scoffed at myself. "No…we did it as a team, so you deserve a reward too." I told her.

"Awww come on, you don't have to be that generous!" Rothair says. Beira looks at him with narrowed eyes.

"What's that suppose to mean? I don't deserve a little praising?" Beira looks at him with a glare.

Rothair clasps his hands together and begs for her forgiveness. And then something unusual happened. I managed to muffle one laugh, but the next one was hard to conceal, and before I knew it I was laughing out loud.

Beira and Rothair blinks twice and stares at me like I grew a second head. Beira chuckles happily and then said. "It's been awhile since I heard you laugh like that Scáth…it's really good to hear your laughter again." Rothair nods in agreement. "Plus girls like guys who know how to laugh!" He says as he slaps my back. "You really need to get a girlfriend!" He jokes.

I shrug and simply replied. "Yeah maybe…but then again they'll probably see me as a poor guy hanging around with his fool for a friend." I tried to crack a joke. Rothair nods and then jumps as he realized what I meant. "Hey I'm not a fool!" He shot back. Beira and I just laughed as his 'offended' look as he looked away with arms folded.

But after a few minutes he gave in and just laughed with us. "Not a bad joke for your first try…but I'll give you a few pointers first." Rothair assures me.

"Like I'll come to _you_ for advice." I told him. Rothair growls and looks at Beira. "Beira say something!" He begs her.

Beira chuckles and said 'No.'


	7. Chapter Three Part II: Monday

Monday, 3:00 P.M

I looked at ruined part of Edge city, and decided to take a small walk through there.

While I walked, I could see the images of the past playing in mind, the remnants of memory of this place. I take a deep breath as I continued to walk towards the old 7th Heaven site.

Within five minutes I reached the place. Then took a good look at it. Half of the bar still remained, and the other half was burnt out years ago.

Suddenly something shined in the wreckage. I blinked twice and then walked over to where the shining object was.

After a few steps I reached it, and pulled it out of debris. It was an old photograph, probably taken two years before I was born.

"What are you doing?" A female's voice asks. I turned around and there was the W.R.O's special agent standing before me. "I was just reminiscing." I told her. "This seems like an odd place to reminisce." She points out. I dissed it off and put the photograph back.

"Why are you here?" I asked. "I'm walking home." She answered simply while folding her arms.

I simply stared at her. "You live here?" I asked. She shook her head. "I live in the outskirts of Edge and this is my version of a shortcut." She explains.

She was a strange young woman, why would she walk through wreckage just to go home?

"Why do you live all the way out there?" I asked. "Why do you want to know?" She reprimanded. "After all you didn't seem to care about me when were in high school." She points out.

"That was three years ago…but you're right it's not my place to ask you such personal questions, so…sorry." I said.

She looks at me, bewildered. "So the proud, arrogant Scáth Strife is apologizing." She scoffs. I nod. "The only thing I have left is my karma, and I want to keep it as clean as possible." I told her.

She raises an eyebrow, and asks what I meant by 'Karma', I explained that I broken my promise to my mother about protecting the bar, and since the bar is no gone, I failed to keep that promise and as a result, I get bad karma.

She shakes her head. "You are such a kid…if it was a accident, it doesn't count because it was unpredictable…trust me it doesn't count…learn to take a load off, you get yourself worked up over nothing." She said.

I rubbed the back of my neck in an awkward manner. She sighed irritably. "If you think you've got worst, then you have no idea how many people would want to be in where you're standing now." She lectured.

"What's that suppose to mean?" I demanded as she walked off. I could feel the irritation build up inside me, and then I went after and forced her to look at me. "I asked you a question and I demand an answer." I hissed.

She narrows her eyes and pulled her wrist away from my grip, soon she pulls out her switchblade, and cuts herself in the arm. I moved to take the knife away, but she pulls back and shakes her head, and then lifted her arm.

Instead of blood pouring out, it was just water. Soon the water that flowed out her wound dissolved into the green fragments of the lifestream.

The fragments dissolved into her skin, and turned it crystal before changing back into fragments. Her wound was gone within an instant.

My eyes widen in amazement. "How is that possible…?" I questioned.

She looks at me with a serious expression in her eyes. "It's because I'm not human like you are." She says as she walks off.

I blink in confusion then I follow her.

"What do you mean you're not human?" I pressed.

She sighs irritably. "I was born human, when I was born my blood had to be replaced with pure Mako…and the reason for that was, so I could live… I was born dead you see, and they had to keep my heart beating with a machine till they could figure out how to get my heart beating manually…after a few hours or so, they decided to do a little test, then they inject a small of Mako into my body, and my heart starting to beat…so they added more and more till finally the Mako filled my veins." She explained.

"After my parents found out what happened, they tried to except it at first, but over time they saw signs of me gaining dangerous powers, so in the end I was handed to the W.R.O at the age of four, and from there I was raised in the W.R.O." She adds.

"So don't complain about how unlucky you are, at least you lived with your parents long enough." She says.

In a way she was right, I was lucky that I had a chance to live a normal life…unlike her, sure the W.R.O seemed to give her some freedom, but it wasn't enough to feel the want and need of a normal family in her life.

"Oh right, I never asked for you name." I pointed out. She stops and turns around. "The name that my parents gave me has been discard for a long time now, but I'm known as Sylvette in W.R.O." She said.

I nod. "Well it's nice to know you Sylvette." I told her. She nods. "It's nice to get to know you too Strife." She said before she started to walk off.

I took a step, but then stopped and then called out. "Sylvette, if you don't mind, would you like someone to escort there?" I offered in a gesture of friendship. She blinks twice and then shakes her head. "Thank you for the offer, but I can handle the monsters out there." She says.

I nodded in response. She tilts her head to the side for a second and waves her hand lightly.

I waved too, and turned around to head back to the city.

Maybe she's right, I need to take a load off, I might be able to focus on my work better, and I'll be able to think a lot clearer too… And maybe I should move on…focus on the future, like I wanted too early…

And I might not be the marriageable type, but friendships will work.

Wutai, 12:00 P.M

The family was sitting down for a quick lunch, and usual Zean was gobbling down his food as quickly as possible.

"Zean please slow down, think about the example you're setting for your younger sisters." Mom tells him gently. Zean was about to take another bite, but then he stops and looks at the two three year olds. Finally he gave in and sighs before complaining. "Jeez, if I knew that being a big brother would be this hard then I would I have never wanted hoped for younger siblings…"

"Zean!" I scolded. He waves his hands in defense and said he was 'kidding and only kidding'

I glared at him. For his sake I hope that was a joke… Mom patted my shoulder and then smiled.

Soon she looked at dad on the other side of the table, quietly eating his food. "Has their been anyone who needed anything delivered?" She asks, as she tried to start a conversation. "No one yet." He answered.

Mom nods in understanding, "Looks like the business hasn't been going well lately…" She sighs.

"Don't worry mom, I'll get a job in the place where dad works too!" Zean adds. "Zean, we've talked about this." Dad reminds him. Zean immediately slumps his shoulders and folds his arms, then mumbles about how 'it was just a bunch about lamps and how much was the ship was rocking'

Dad excuses himself and then stands up. Mom watches him leave the room, then she excuses herself too.

Zean snickers and then stands. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some listening to do…" He chuckles as he quietly leaves the room.

I closed my eyes.

Then, "Sissy…" Anemone calls. I open them and looked at her, "Where have mommy and daddy gone?" She asks. "They've gone to sort something's out, that's all." I explained as simply as possible.

"Meaning, we're getting poorer now sis, and mommy and daddy needs more money!" Anetheia adds.

I was surprised about how much they knew of our situation…my hands clenched to fists when they weren't looking.

"Dad come on, that's the only option at this point!" Zean shouts. I snapped out my thoughts and listened in.

"That's out of the question, you're only sixteen, and I've said no." Dad replied. Mom's sighs came soon after. "Cloud, he's sixteen, you can't keep him under your thumb forever… Zean needs to learn some responsibility and I think that letting him get a job is the best choice." Mom intervenes.

There was a long pause, and finally dad sighs. "I'll think about it." He said. "Dad can't you give me a straight answer!" Zean demands. "I said I'll think about it, if you don't like the answer I gave you than you can forget about getting a job as a Wutai troop." Dad told him simply.

The sliding door slammed open and Zean rushed out of the room in anger.

"Cloud…" Mom started, but I hear dad's footsteps leave the room, and I sighed too.

Anemone and Anetheia stopped eating, and had their chopsticks placed neatly on their bowls.

"Hey guys come on, eat something." I encourage them. "We're not hungry sissy…" Anemone answered. Anetheia nods in agreement.

Mom then comes in and sits down on her spot, and then looks at all of us. "Don't worry about that, daddy was just having a little talk with your brother and I." She reassures as.

"We should have stayed in aunt Yuffie's pretty castle…" Anetheia sulks. Anemone nods in agreement. "At least we could play with lots of toys and sleep in nice beds…" Anemone adds.

Mom nods, "That's true…but we wouldn't be able to talk or sit like this if we stayed there." She said. And then I add. "Plus the palace is so big we could get lost in there."

"But daddy and Zean wouldn't fight so much anymore…" Anetheia mumbles.

"By the way mom, I heard that the W.R.O are spreading their defenses here so is this true?" I asked, while trying to change the subject. Mom blinks twice. "Well I'm not too sure about that, but they said its rumor... just in case there are gang members here." She said.

I nod, "Well I've noticed that a lot of people have been going missing lately, in fact most of the teenage boys are gone…they've ran away." I told her.

"Ran away?" Mom repeats. I nod, "Most of their parents don't know where they went…and not only that, but all the boys went missing at least stole some tools and Materia too."

"First it was tools, and now it's Materia as well…" Mom whispers in worry. "What could they be planning?" She wonders.

Anemone and Anetheia looks at the both of us in confusion. I smiled and told them that it was some grown up talk. They said 'Ok' and soon they ran off, forgetting about their half eaten meals.

* * *

Edge, one week later, Monday, 2:00 P.M

Scáth and Sylvette entered their officer's room. "Sir, you wanted to speak to us?" She announced.

"Yes, as a matter a fact I have a mission for you both." He says. Then he hands us two files. Sylvette opens hers and I opened mines.

Inside was a report of all the missing items from the W.R.O weaponry room. "Sir, if I may ask what exactly do you want us to do about this?" I said. "For now, I'm assigning you on a guard mission––" "I apologize for the interruption, but I'm a spy, I don't do guard missions." Sylvette argues. "This isn't just a simple guard mission, you will be hidden of course. Now Sylvette, I understand that spying is in your department, but you're the most experience fighter that the W.R.O has ever seen, so we need your capabilities in this one."

"If you know that she can handle it, then why do you need me?" I asked. Our commanding officer leans back on his chair and looks up at me. "Scáth, you're a skilled fighter, and you're there to assist Sylvette if anything goes wrong, after all…you have fighting experience as well, and your sharp mind only increases your ability to plan things out quickly." He explained.

"So there's your missions, dismissed." He tells us. "Sir!" We both saluted before we left the room.

* * *

Well here's chapter! LOL sorry that it's kinda short, since it's almost 2:00 A.M over here and my brain needs a bit of a rest too ^ ^

anyway I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and please let me know it there's s anything that bothers you, and I'll re-edit this chapter when I can!

Thank you for your support!


	8. Chapter Three Part II: Continued

The W.R.O weaponry, 9:00 P.M.

"Sylvette do you have your things ready?" I asked. She nods as she skintight black outfit.

Soon she tied her red hair into a ponytail, soon she looks up at the ceiling then jumps. Somehow her feet stayed perfectly planted on the ceiling's metal surface. "How do you do that?" I muttered. She simply smirks. "That's a question for another time." She says.

I simply shrug and then get my weapon ready. "So, tell me about yourself." She demands lightly.

"Well there's not much to say, I'm just a hard working young man, I might have family in Wutai…yeah a younger sister, brother, maybe another brother or sister…and my parents might be there too." I said. She raises an eyebrow as she looks down at me from the ceiling.

"I haven't seen or heard of them in three years…but I'm pretty sure that they're doing well." I added.

"So you miss them?" She asked. I closed my eyes and nodded slowly. Soon I opened my eyes. "Well that's enough self pity for one day, we have a job to do." I told her.

"Are you always this prioritized?" She asked.

Soon we heard the vault open and Sylvette places her hand on the ceiling, so she could stay up on the ceiling.

I hid on one of the side opening in weaponry, and waited. Soon the door opened and a shadowed figure appears.

And walked passed me. I gripped the handle of my gun, and quietly followed the person.

Soon the person entered the sword armory, and turned on the light. I made my move and pointed the gun to the back of his or hers head. "This is where it ends." I said. The person didn't answer and kicked the gun out of my hand. I got down and kicked the guy in the ankles, he or she fell on the floor and then scrambled out of the room. "Sylvette now!" I signaled. She nods and then jumps down from the ceiling and chases after the guy.

I followed her out of the W.R.O building. Soon I spotted her being held captive by the culprit, with a stun gun against her neck.

"Easy, there's no need to go that far…Alright just put the weapon down and no body gets hurt…" I instructed calmly.

The culprit doesn't appear to want to cooperate. "Scáth it's alright…I can handle this…" Sylvette tells me, but the culprit holds the stun gun closer to her.

I was surprised on how calm was she, despite the fact of the danger she was in.

Sylvette closes her eyes and pulls out something from her pocket, it appeared to be a pen…soon she pressed the top of the pen.

The top of the pen blinked red and beeped. Without warning it exploded. The culprit and Sylvette flies off the ground.

Sylvette goes into a crouching position and skids on the ground. The culprit rolled on the ground, partial burnt and runs off despite of seriousness of his or hers injuries. I ran to try and catch the culprit but Sylvette raises her arm to stop me. "Let the guy go…besides look what that idiot left behind." She says looking to the piece of crystal on the ground.

"Let's take it back to the W.R.O for analysis…who knows the scientists might be able to find the source of this crystal." She says. "Right…" I said. Soon I heard a aircraft fly up in the sky.

I looked up and a W.R.O plane doing patrols around the city. "Strife let's go!" Sylvette orders.

She snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned to her and apologized. She didn't reply and told me to hurry up or she'll see to it that I was demoted for incompetence. I sighed and followed her without muttering a single word.

8:00 P.M, W.R.O research department.

"Interesting…" The head scientist says. "This crystal, isn't just crystal…but it's an element…It's a hybrid between Mako and two unknown chemical substances…I'm not sure what it is, it could be sodium chloride…" She says.

"Thanks Esperanza." Sylvette says. Esperanza nods and tucks away a strand of her black hair. "I'll try harder to track this thing down, but it's a good find for now…though I hope it's not going to end up as a wild goose chase." She says. "Anyway great job you guys, I'm sure your commanding officer will let you go now––"

"Not quite." My commanding officer says as he comes in right on cue. "Sylvette you're needed on a spy mission in Gongaga." He says. She nods and takes her leave. "Scáth you're needed with me in an investigation near the Cosmo Canyons." He says. "Sir, what's happened." I asked.

"Come with me, and I'll show you." He said. My eyes widen slightly. I didn't like where this was going…especially with the coldness in his voice, I could tell that it was very serious…

"I understand, Sir…I'll come with you." I told him. "Thank you Scáth." He says as he heads out of the research department to get ready.

An hour later we headed out in the hanger, and the commander got a plane ready.

Suddenly, just as we were about to go in. "Wait, I'm coming with you." Esperanza says. "No your orders are to stay here." My commanding officer tells her. "Forget it, I have ties that I need to save over there." She says. "And I won't let anyone or anything get in the way of that." She says.

I look at her, and noticed that she was no longer wearing her lab coat, but a green tank top and long black latex pants. And strapped on her shoulder laid a regular rifle. "I'm going, and there's nothing you can say that will change my mind." She says. My commanding officer sighs and then steps aside. She nods gratefully then steps into the helicopter.

"Scáth, buckle up we're leaving immediately." He said as he steps into the helicopter after Esperanza.

Esperanza took a seat on the opposite end of the two of us, and buckles her seat belt.

The chopper shook a bit for a few times and then I looked at her. "So, Esperanza right?" I started. "Yeah, what's it to you?" She demands. "What did you mean that you have ties over there?" I asked.

"I have a son there." She answered. I blinked twice. "You're married?" I asked. She shook her head. "Nah, it was more like a one night stand." She answered with a chuckle. I leaned back. She laughed again. "I'm widowed actually." She says with a somewhat relaxed tone.

"How old are you exactly?" I asked. She raises an eyebrow. "Don't you know it's rude to ask a woman about her age." She said. "Sorry…" I apologized as I looked away. She waved it off, "It's alright, I'm thirty." She answered. "Really? You seventeenish or maybe twentyish." I replied honestly. She chuckled. "Thank you, I'm glad you said that, now I feel younger." She tells me.

I replied that it was good to know.

"Zean, Zean do you want to come out?" Mom asks. "No." He replied. She sighed, "I talked to your father, and he said he's sorry…" Mom adds. "That's a lie mom and you know it." Zean says.

Mom closes and then takes a deep breath, then she turned around to walk off. "I'll talk to him." I told her as she walked passed. Mom nods and said thanks before she headed out to join Anemone and Anetheia to make dinner.

I knocked on Zean's door and entered.

Then I saw him laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "You're still mad at dad aren't you?" I asked.

He glanced at me. "Thanks for pointing that out for me captain obvious." He muttered.

I remained silent and then sat on the edge of his bed. "You know he's just looking out for us right?" I added. "No, he's just worried that I'm going to crush his pride…it's all about pride." He said.

"I don't think it's about that…but maybe he's not ready to lose another son in this household, after all Zean we don't know what's happened to Scáth or Denzel… so in a way I can imagine what he's going through…and he's not as hopeful as mom, you know this better than anyone, he holds on to guilt easily and he won't forgive himself if anything happened to you, me or the twins." I told him.

"So what, I've suddenly become a replacement for Scáth now?" He snaps. I shook my head. "It's not that…no one can replace Scáth, but we can't afford to lose another member in our family, sure if you disappeared than life will be easier for us, financially, but not emotionally…Zean you're the only son that mom and dad has now, and I know that dad has been a little inattentive to most of your needs in the past, but he cares about you, and all of us… And we all care about Zean, especially dad…so please don't push yourself away from us, please you're the only brother I have left now and as an sister it's hard to see you like this, especially if you're younger than I am." I added.

Zean looks at me and then looks down on the floor. "I'm sorry sis…I just never thought about it that way before, but it's frustrating that every time I try to help dad out, it always backfires and instead I'm the one who always causes trouble…" He mumbled.

"It's pretty obvious… he's ashamed of me…" He sighs. "Don't be like that. Where's all your pride gone?" I scolded. He looks at me, immediately insulted. "Whaddya mean where's my pride gone! I still have my pride!" He shouted as he stood on the bed.

I giggled and looked up at him. "Now that's the little brother I know." I joked. "Hey, I'm taller than you! So I'm not 'little' anymore!" He added.

"Oh right, I'm sorry…" I apologized. Zean smirks and then jumps before sitting next to me. "Thanks for cheering me up though…" He adds. I nod. "Actually I want to go back to Edge…maybe try and find Scáth…" He tells me. I blink twice and then smiled. "Actually I was thinking about that too…but I wasn't sure that dad wasn't going to let me go." I confessed. He looks at me, complete taken back. "So let's go together! We can be a duo again!" Zean says with determination written in his eyes. "You mean trio." I corrected.

"Yeah…trio." Zean smiles with small smile.

Cosmo Canyon, 10:00 P.M

I never saw my commanding officer's eyes widen like that, even Esperanza had her hand over her mouth. The area was destroyed. Corpses laid on the ground with fresh blood on coming out of them. Some of the houses were burnt, and most of them was still burning.

"No…" She said breathlessly in disbelief. Then she ran in. I made my move to stop her, but my commanding officer held me back. "Let her go." He tells me.

"Redan! Redan!" She yells. "Mom!" A young boy's voice shouted. Esperanza turns around, and a boy around the age of thirteen came running to her. Esperanza wraps her arms around him and hold him close to her. "What happened here…" She asks as she cups his cheeks.

"There was some people with guns that demanded that we tell them where the Materia keeper was… but we didn't tell them…so…" Redan stops and closes his eyes and lifts his arm over them.

"It's alright…come here…" She says as pulls him close. "Materia keeper?" I asked. Esperanza looks at me as she held her crying son close to her. "The Materia keeper is not literally a Materia keeper…but it's a term that our people use to call those with Mako blood." She explains. "You see…it's near impossible for a person to be born with Mako instead of blood in their veins…but if it's already happened…then it's probably the second time, since there's a saying that this only happens once very million years or so… but if there is a Materia Keeper then the legend says we have to eliminate him or her as soon as possible." Esperanza explains.

Eliminate? "Why?" I asked. "A Materia Keeper has two destinies, one is to bring great fortune to the Planet or bring misfortune to it…however most of them are killed before they could even fulfill this destiny…" Esperanza explained.

My eyes widen.

"This is what my family has been doing for generations." My commanding officer says.

"Uncle?" Redan sniffs.

Uncle? I looked at my commanding officer and then Redan. Well there was some notable resemblance between them, that's right they had the same dark brown hair, and cyan clue eyes. But Redan had his mother's small and perfect proportional thin nose, and oval shaped eyes.

"Esperanza let's find any survivors, then we'll worry about the dead later." My commanding officer tells her.

She nods and tells me to just stay with Redan while they go off.

Soon the two of us just stayed in the helicopter. I had my gun placed underneath the seat while I crossed my legs and closed my eyes, focusing only on meditating for the time being.

"Hey are you with my mom?" He asked. I slowly opened my eyes. "What do you mean 'with' her?" I asked. "You know, together…dating…anything?" He asks. I blinked twice and then I shook my head. "No, she forced us to bring her here." I told him honestly. He nods and looks at the ground.

"So you're my commander's nephew?" I asked. He nods, "Yeah, my dad was his younger brother…but the funny thing is, he's kind of taken over that role since my dad passed away." He says. "I know, he's a sort of father figure for me too…sure most of the time we're busy with work but when we're free it's easy for me to talk about anything with him. He's like the father that I never had…" I lied partially. Redan looks at me with understanding in his eyes.

"You know, you can join my family if you want too." Redan said. Then he smiles, "Besides I've always wondered what it'll be like to have a older brother." He adds. I looked at him, and I could see the fear, anger and grief in his eyes… but I also saw the determination he had to keep himself together. "Your mother raised you to be tough huh?" I pointed out.

He didn't answer. "I taught myself to be tough, because I was almost always alone…so I couldn't rely on my mom to protect me when she's working in Edge city." He explains.

"I know the feeling…Well my mom was always there, but my dad…he use to travel a lot, making deliveries." I said.

"That's pretty cool, your dad can travel the world…I'd give anything to see the world instead of staying here all the time…" He closed his eyes and clenched his fist. "You know, I always thought that it was wrong for a boy to cry…but I'm telling you now that it's okay to cry… Trust me I feel like I want to cry deep inside, but I can't not anymore there's that masculine instinct that always held my tears back…But I'm an adult now so it'll be harder to convince myself to cry. But you're still a kid so it'll be alright." I told him.

Redan eyes widen and then he couldn't hold it back anymore. He covered his face with his hands and then started crying. I didn't know what made me open up to this kid, after all we just met.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "It'll be alright kid, I'm sure of it." I said.

10:00 P.M

Esperanza and Redan's uncle came back. Covered in dirt and soot. "We couldn't find any survivors, so Redan you're a lucky boy." My commanding officer tells him. Redan nods and tries to put on a brave-face. Esperanza sits next to him and rubs his shoulder in a comforting gesture. "I'm sorry about your friends Redan." Esperanza whispers. Redan closes his eyes cries silently as he leans against his mother's shoulder.

Watching them, reminded me of the relationship that I had with my own mother…and Redan was similar to how I was when I was his age.

"We're heading back now." My commanding officer says. "Scáth." He called. I nodded and then buckled up. My commanding officer went to the cockpit and ordered the pilot to lift us off.

"Redan, I know that this is a hard time for you, but can you tell me what these men looked like?" Esperanza tells him. Redan explained that they wore robes, most of them wore robes and the others looked like regular teenagers, but the most interesting thing about them was the crystal that were growing around their bodies. "Crystals…" Esperanza gasps.

"They're turning themselves into hybrids…" Esperanza now realizes. "But why…" She questions. "Mom, they said that the Keeper will bring them to Paradise…for the keeper is the Goddess." Redan explains.

"Goddess…" Esperanza's eyes widen. "So that's why…" She adds. "They're idiots all of them..." She mutters. "The Materia Keeper's destiny…but it's just an old story––" "It's not an old story Esperanza. You very well that your late husband grew up to prepare for this, and so did I… and that title will pass down to your son, my brother's son." My Commander tells her. "I'm a scientist, it's not my job to listen such fables, and my son will not follow in his father's footsteps to chase after something that doesn't exist." She told him sternly.

"But mom if they don't exist then why did they kill our people!" Redan butts in. "They're murders, and they're idiots and I won't let you go around acting like a idiot by letting you go off and chase some inexistent entity like your father did. Because that's what got him killed, do you hear me? That's what killed him." Esperanza says. The commander and Redan both looked down as Esperanza folds her arms. Soon the commander looks up at her. "We'll talk about this later, so buckle up." He orders her. Esperanza nods and sits on the spot next to her son and puts on her seat belt first before she puts her son's on.

I clipped mines on and soon we were off in the air.

'_So Materia Keepers are people with pure Mako in their blood…but why does ring a bell––Sylvette!'_ My eyes widen, I was having a epiphany. That's right Sylvette told me that her blood was replaced with Mako when she was a baby so does that make her a Materia Keeper?

Wutai, 11:00 P.M

I groaned as I felt someone shake me roughly by the shoutler. "Spéire come on wake up!" Zean calls. I blink open my eyes and then I slowly got off the futon. "What is it?" I yawned. "Let's go…" He says.

What was he talking about? "Go where?" I asked. "Back to Edge of course." He said as he looked at me like I was an idiot. "What? Zean I thought we're going to wait till morning to talk about this!" I shouted. Zean covered my mouth with his hand. "Listen, there's something going on in the docks…so I was thinking we sneak in one of the ships and see what it is…" He whispers.

"But Zean we can't just leave mom and dad…" I remind him. "I wrote them a letter telling them where we'll be." He explained.

But still it's too sudden… Plus mom will be heart broken to see that we've ran away…And dad's guilt will only grow… but he's still my brother and I can't let him get hurt…besides I want to see Scáth again too.

"Alright…I'll come with you." I said to him with a smile. "I knew I could count on you sis." He says.

I went to my closet and immediately folded my clothes in blanket, before tying it in a bundle.

Zean waited for me by the door. I stood up and put on my crème colored sweater. Soon I walked over to him, and he took my bundle and then he held my hand. Afterwards he led the both of us out of the house.

"I can't see…" I told him. "Don't worry…I know exactly where were going." He said with a determined voice.

I looked at him, and I now realized how much he's changed…and how much I've changed.

Though he still has his rebellious streak every now and again, but he's matured too, he's slowly learning how to control himself for the sake of our twin sisters and our mother.

And I've also noticed that I'm not as weak as I use to be…I don't get fevers as much as use too, and I'm not that timid anymore…I actually I know what I want to, I want to help people, I want to teach them that there is more ways to life than just fighting, and I want to teach them there will be some times when we have to fight for what we believe in.

Suddenly I bumped into Zean. I looked at him and he stood there in defense position.

I looked over his shoulder and saw several cloaked figures looking at us. "Look what we have here...A couple of stowaways in our territory." A cold yet relaxed male voice said.

He raised his hand and icicles popped out of the ground. Zean turned around and pushed me out of the way. We both fell and rolled on the ground. "Turn back to where you came." A new voice ordered, and it was defiantly female.

Zean stood up readying himself in fighting position. I stood up and got myself in a fighting position as well.

There was the sound of static coming from the girl's hand. I looked at her, and she lighting from her arm down.

"Zean…" I muttered worriedly. Zean rushes forward and so did the girl. The man who called the icicles rushed towards me. I moved my head out of the way and bend down in a forty-five degree angle.

But the man did the same and he grabbed my hair and began to spin me around till the momentum was perfect.

Finally when it reached the right point he releases his hold. But I managed to spin myself backwards and my feet hit the tree instead of my head.

He didn't even waste a second before he fought again. This time he punched me in the jaw.

I heard Zean scream behind me as he skidded on the dirt. I rushed to him and lifted him up by the arm.

Soon we stood back to back and watched as the ten cloaked figures slowly closed in on us. "Dammit…we're in trouble…" Zean cursed. "You got that right…" I commented.

All of them raised their hands high in the air, and summoned each of their elements. Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Poison, Destruct, Ultima, Time, Heal, Revive.

Our eyes widen and they all leaped into the air, before they aimed their powers at us.

We closed our eyes.

Then…

We heard a thud, but no attack came, and then we opened our eyes and looked up.

Dad was there, blocking the main man of the group with his sword. Soon he pushed him up with his blade and landed on the ground beside us, in a defense position.

Zean and I watched the man fall to ground, making a loud _crack_ sound as he landed.

Dad watches catiously as the man slowly stood up and cracked his neck back into place. Zean mouth hung wide in surprise.

"Impressive, that's what I could expect from a former AVALANCHE member." The man says.

"This is far from over…" The man says as the girl aims at the tree. Soon a loud crackling was heard. Dad eyes widen as he saw a tree falling near us.

"Jump!" He ordered us. Zean and I jumped and the tree lands on the ground between dad and us.

Zean turns to look at the cloaked figures, so he could give them a piece of his mind. But they were gone…

"Damn…" Zean mutters under his breath after he hoists himself over the fallen tree and to dad's side.

I leaped over the tree and landed beside them.

"What were you two doing out here?" Dad asked. Zean and I looked down, then he noticed our bundles. Soon he nodded. "Let's go." He said. Zean shot up. "What do you mean?" Zean asked.

"You want to go back don't you?" Dad questioned, even though he knew it wasn't necessary.

"Yeah, I do…" Zean said. "But not with you, with her." He adds as he turns to look at me.

"Zean, let dad come…After all we don't have much fighting experience, and he does…we need him." I reminded him. Zean closes his eyes and ran his hand through his hair.

Finally he lets out a frustrated growl. "Fine, you can come…but don't do anything stupid." Zean threatens.

"Look who's talking." Dad replied simply as he walked off. Zean growls, and I walk a head of him.

"Does mom know you're here?" I asked as I walked beside dad. "I wrote her a letter just before I sensed you two leaving the house." Dad said with a calm voice. "You knew?" I wondered. He nods. "How?" I asked. "It's hard to explain…but you'll understand some day." He answered.

I nodded and followed him all the way to the docks.

* * *

-End of Part II-

* * *

Well here's the continuing of where Chapter Three left off, and the ending of part II!

Now if you feel that the storyline is getting boring or cheesy, then I'd agree you, but it's fun to write this, so I apologize for those people who find it boring or what not.

Anyway please review, and I mean just comment on anything, whether it's bad (no offensive language okay) or good comments, I'm fine with it, reviews help me improve okay!

Again, please review. :)


	9. Chapter Three Part III: New Mission

Wutai, the next day.

-Tifa's P.O.V-

'_Looks like he's gone again…'_ I sighed as I looked at the letter he left me on his futon.

'_Not only that…but Spéire and Zean have snuck off too…'_ I added as I looked at the letter. He said that he needed to take care of something...but I wish he wouldn't have taken me too.

"Mama…" Anemone calls. I snapped out of my thoughts and then looked down at her. "Where's daddy gone?" She asked. "Daddy needed to take of something's with Spéire and Zean." I explained with a smile. "So is he coming back?" Anetheia asked. I nodded and then pull them close gently. "Of course he'll come back, and so will your brother and sister." I assured them.

Anetheia looks up at me and then asks. "Hey mama, are you sad that daddy isn't here?" She wonders.

I look down at her and groomed her hair a bit. "Maybe…just a little, but I have you two…and you're a part of daddy, so I won't be so sad as long as we stay together as a family." I said with a smile.

Anetheia and Anemone smiled as they looked up at me. Soon they jumped and wrapped their tiny arms around my neck. I wrapped my arms around them and told myself as long as we faced our hardships as a family, then we can overcome anything…right now Cloud was doing what he thinks is best for all of us, and I'll stay here and protect these two innocent beings with my life…just like I would do with all my children…it didn't matter if one of my children were adopted or not…I would gladly give up my life for him.

"Mommy does this mean we can stay in Aunt Yuffie's house?" Anetheia asks. I looked up at the ceiling and thought for a minute, and then I smiled. "Well since daddy's not here, I don't see the problem if we stayed there for a few days." I said.

The girls threw their hands up in the arm, and soon they held their hands till their fingers twined as they danced in excitement. My smile stayed as I watched them dance. Soon I folded my legs and slowly clapped my hands, to create a small beat. They stopped and then continued on dancing merrily, completely unaware they their movements weren't following the beat.

That didn't matter to me, the most important thing was, that they were having fun.

Fun, that was a luxury that they weren't able to have since we moved into this house.

I stopped clapping, and looked at the house. It was slightly small, mostly like enough to fit a family of three instead of five… everyone had to take turn using the bedrooms (since there was only two), fortunately there was plenty of futons for everyone. I sighed and the twins looked up at me. "What are you thinking about mommy?" They asked in unison.

I shook my head and told them that it wasn't something that children shouldn't be worrying about.

"Let's get ready to go to the palace alright?" I suggested. The twins said okay, and then ran into the second bedroom of the house, so they could pack their things. I smiled and then went to the first bedroom and then packed some of my clothes, then… "Mommy we're ready!" The twins announced.

I nodded and then zipped my bag. Soon I slung the bag on my shoulder and then looked at the girls. "Put on your hats, it'll be hot today." I told them. They both nodded and then went to the hanger, and pulled off their hats from the hooks and then put it on their heads.

"Is that better mommy?" They asked. I bend down to their height and then nodded with a bright smile. "Yes, they look good on you." I said. They smiled and then pulled my arm, eagerly telling me to hurry up. I nodded as they pulled me out the door.

I told them to slow down and that people were staring at us. Soon Anetheia looked back at me, and for a spilt second I saw a image of a five year old Scáth, pulling me the same they are pulling me now.

Edge City, Monday (three days later) 9:00 A.M

My eyes widen as I sat up in bed, I took a few breaths as I looked around, and realized that I was still in my room. There was a knock on the door, and then I tried to move, but I winced and then look at myself. Soon I saw that I was bandage. "Scáth you awake?" Beira asked from the other side of the door. "Yeah. Come in." I replied. She opens the door, and then looks at me. "What happened?" I asked. "You were in out in a late mission…A group of boys came in and attacked you, but no one saw who it was…let alone where they came from." Beira explained. I blinked twice. "Luckily Sylvette was near by and then she fought them, and then she brought here all battered and beaten." Beira said.

I shifted my eyes in uncertainty and then looked up at her. "You nearly died you know…and you owe her your life." She said with her arms folded. I nodded in agreement. "By the way I called Reeve and told him to give you a break for a few days, so you can stay here and draw all you want!" She said with a very cheerful voice…how typical…

"Alright…" I whispered in slight annoyance. "Honestly, I think you deserve the break...I don't see why you're so grumpy about it." She points out with her arms still folded.

"…" I couldn't think of anything else to say. "Listen, Sylvette said that she was going to come here soon to check on you." Beira told me as she slowly left the room.

I sighed and then lay back down and simply stared at the ceiling. _'So she saved me…but why? It's not like I ever did anything for her.'_ I thought. _'Maybe I should thank her when she comes here…'_ I added. Suddenly I felt drowsy again, and this time I didn't want to fight it. So I just closed my eyes and then fell asleep again.

And this time I hoped that I would have a dreamless sleep… A complete one, even without the memories of my childhood replaying in my head…_ 'I don't want to see it…I don't…it'll just make me remember and long for it more…'_

A different part of Edge City, that same morning.

"Hey, come on wake up…We're here." Dad announces as he shakes my shoulder lightly. I turned to my side and I saw Zean, half awake as he rubbed his eye with one hand.

"I really wished that we could slept on a bed…" He yawned as dad stood near the crates to keep an eye out for danger. I stood up and then slowly walked over to join him. "Spéire, just keep eye an on your brother…I'll let you know when there's trouble." He said.

"Dad, I'm seventeen now, I don't need to be protected all the time." I told him. He looks down for a second and then looked at me, and remained silent for a few minutes. "You're right. Spéire, if you see any of the guards come I want you to take Zean and hide in the ceiling." Dad instructs. I nod, and then dad just keeps an eye out. I smiled and then rested a hand on his shoulder. "You're still trying to get use to this huh?" I pointed out. "What do you mean 'use to this'?" He asked. "Zean and I growing up." I clarified.

He remained silent for a few minutes, and then simply nodded. "I felt like I wasn't there for you both––" "Now you'll get your chance, with the twins." I pointed out. "You know, you might be able to spend more time with them, make up the time that you lose with us when you went off to make those deliveries." I said with a happy smile.

Dad eyes widen for a second, and then he looks away. "But I thought you'd be––" "Mad that the twins were getting more attention than Zean and I? Dad, you know Zean and I are better than that." I said with one eyebrow raised.

Dad sighed, and then the metal doors opened. Dad motions me to stay down as he gets closer to the edge of the crate. Soon he saw the crew there. "Go." He whispered. I nodded and then quickly but silently pulled Zean by the shirt. "Hey what gives––Mmmm!" I covered his mouth with my hand just as he spoke. And I shushed him. He blinked twice as I lifted the both of us to the supports for the ceilings.

Dad slowly backs away as the crew slowly moves in to take the crates. "Dad…" Zean whispered in fright, after all if he gets caught then we're all in trouble. "Sis we have to do something…" He said.

"But what?" I asked. Zean smirks and then pulls something from his pocket, and showed it to me. It was a bunch of Materia. I blinked twice and then looked at him. "Where did you get that?" I asked. "Remember when we had that last encounter…well while you and dad were walking, I found these on the ground and decided to take them. And now they can be used for this!" Zean says as he threw one to the wall. I was about to tell him not to do it, but it was too late.

The Materia smashed and the crew ran to the wall where the Materia was thrown. Zean asked me to hold on to his feet while he goes down to get dad. Dad raises his hand and shakes his head. "Leave now." He tells us.

"Did you hear something?" One of the crewmembers asked. Dad slowly turns to where the crewmembers were and then he hid behind the crates, with his eyes closed and his hands holding his sword tightly. "Go now." He tells us sharply. "If came from over here!" One of the crewmembers announced as they approached him.

Zean watched with widen eyes. I grabbed him by the arm and then quietly pulled him away so we can exit the ship.

_Pang!_ The crew spotted us and started firing. I jumped down, pulling Zean with me and then we ran outside of the ship.

Most of the crewmembers stared at us as we ran to the railings. "Zean get ready to jump!" I told him. " What about dad?" He shouted.

We made it to the railings and then we leaped over it, still hand in hand. Finally we landed in the waters below.

The crewmembers that chased us before fired two more shots in the water, luckily it didn't hit.

I turned to Zean and pointed to where the shorelines were and then we swam all the way there.

Finally after a few minutes we reached the docks, and then coughed the water out of lungs. "You okay sis?" Zean asked. I nodded with a smile. I stood up, and so did Zean…but a few seconds later.

"Argh!" He cried as he fell back down. I gasped and then ran towards him, kneeling in an instant. "Zean where did you get hit?" I asked.

He didn't answer but just winced. Soon I saw the blood on his side. "Don't worry we'll get help…" I told him as I lifted one of his arms to my shoulder. Soon I lifted us both off the sand, and walked, trying to find a hospital or clinic that can at least help us.

Beira's apartment 10:00 A.M.

Sylvette was sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of tea that Beira had prepared her some tea.

"Oh hey Scáth, it's about time you've woke up…" Beira lectures. I raised an eyebrow.

Sylvette turns to me. "Strife, sit." She ordered. I nodded, sensing that there was trouble, soon I sat on the cushion next to her. "I need you to come with to Head Quarters immediately…there's been a debriefing, and it concerns you." She announces. "Now hold on it's his day off––"

"Beira cool it, if it's urgent, then I have to go." I told her. "It is urgent, and you are required to pack immediately." She says.

Pack?

I nodded and then went to my room and pulled out my bag, then I threw some clothes in, soon I zipped my bag and then I pulled out my uniform, then I put it on, and slung my bag over my shoulder as I walked off.

Beira sighed and then looked up at me as she sat on the couch. "Scáth, I honestly don't think that this is a good idea, after all you're still injured." Beira said to me in a serious voice. I looked at her, and she was sulking. I sighed. "I know you're worried, but you can't treat me like a kid...I'm a WARRIOR…if I'm called then I answer." I said to her simply.

Sylvette raised an eyebrow. Soon I walked ahead of her and Sylvette followed behind me as we started to head towards our destination.

W.R.O, debriefing room, 9:30 A.M

I entered the building and saw that Reeve, Esperanza and most of the directors for the WARRIOR program there. Suddenly I focused on one spot. The Commander's…it was empty.

"What happened?" I asked. Reeve took a deep breath and asked me to sit down. "Scáth, I'm sure that you remember last night's mission?" Reeve started. "How could I forget, I'm still injured from it." I added. I nodded in an apologetic manner. "Commissioner, may I ask: What happened?" I said.

He leaned back on his chair. "We have a traitor in the W.R.O, and that traitor is the only person that's not here." He said. My eyes widen as I stood up furiously. "That's not true!" I shouted. Sylvette pulled me down by the shirt and said coldly. "Shut up and listen Strife."

"Unfortunately, he has given classified information about Sylvette's heritage, and for your own safety, I have to send her away, with a new identity…" Reeve continued. I looked at him. "What does have to do with me?" I asked. "She will not be sent away alone. I need someone to watch her. Esperanza if you please?" Reeve said as he turned to her.

Esperanza nodded and then handed us two I.D cards. "You will be Scarlet Léon." She said to Sylvette. "And Trojan Lock." She said to me. "You both are distant cousins that are living together in the city of Kalm." She adds. "Is that understood?" She asked with her arms folded.

"Affirmative." Sylvette said.

"Understood." I said.

"Now Scáth, I understand that you have companions in Kalm, I am right?" Reeve asks. "Just my older brother, Denzel." I told him. "Do not tell other people of your old identity." Esperanza said. "Remember that this is a secret mission…no one must know. So that means that you can't reveal your old identity to your family." She explained. My eyes widen in shock. She narrowed her eyes, and I sighed. She's right; I can't let my personal feelings get in away of this…

Somewhere in the ruins of Midgar, 11:00 A.M

I continued to support Zean as we both walked towards Edge.

Zean winced and then stopped. I laid him down on one of walls of a broken building, and looked at his wound. The bleeding was getting worst, and his skin was losing most of it's color. "Don't worry Zean, it's not as bad as it looks." I lied. "Quit it already…You and I both know I don't have that much time left if we don't reach a hospital soon…" He said with a weak voice. I closed my eyes and then pulled him up soon I slung arm over my shoulder and pressed my hand on his wound so I can keep the pressure on while I continued to walk.

"Forget it sis...I don't think I'm even going to make it…I can't even feel my legs anymore…" He said to me…

My eyes widen and then I stopped, soon I looked at him. And he was looking down on the ground. "You said you wanted to find Scáth right? And if you do…then you two can be a duo…" He said.

I closed my eyes and tried not to cry, but I pulled his other arm on my shoulder and pulled him on my back. "Sis what are you doing…?" Zean asks. "I'm not going to let you die." I told him. "Scáth made me promise him that I'll get stronger, and keep it together when our family is trouble…especially when mom and dad can't be strong… And that's what I'll do… I'll do what I can to keep our family together." I told him. "So please, I know you're tired…but just hang on a little longer." I requested. I felt Zean's body struggle to nod. "Okay…I will…" He promised. I sighed in relief and then continued to walk towards Edge, while I carried Zean on my back.

'_Dad…I hope you're alright…'_ I thought.

W.R.O debriefing room, an hour later.

"That will be all, so you are dismissed." Reeve tells us. Soon everyone left the room.

"Scáth we have to leave immediately." Sylvette says, I nod then straighten up. Suddenly there were a group of the W.R.O troops rushing out with medical kits and stretchers.

"What's going on?" I asked. "There's there's a man that's been found wounded in the old docks, and two more near the old city of Midgar." A female trooper answered. "They appear to have swam all the way here." She added. _'How odd…'_

"Swam?" I repeated. She nodded and then she reported that they received a call from the ship of a three stowaways that snuck into the ship that same day.

Is there a link?

"Don't worry about it, we'll take care of the investigation, you have another mission to attend to." She said.

I blinked twice, and then mentally slapped myself, right the mission…it slipped out of my mind for a minute there.

"Scáth let's go!" Sylvette ordered. I told her to give me a minute. "Where did the ship plan come from?" I asked. "From Wutai." She answered.

"Did you get a description of what they looked like?" I asked. She shook her head and apologized. "That's alright…Thank you for your time." I told her. She nodded and then apologized again.

Sylvette waited and folded her arms, and then looked at me. "Was that really necessary?" She asked. "I'm sorry…it's just that I thought…" I stopped there. She nodded. "You really do miss them…I understand, but don't screw up just because of your feelings." She told me. I nodded.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to do that…I didn't mean to put my personal feelings above my work…" I sighed. She then placed her hand on my shoulder. "It'll be alright…I'm sure that you'll get to see them again one day." She told me, "Just not today." She added.

Fair enough…besides this mission is far more important than my family at the moment. And it has to be done by any means necessary.

* * *

Well here you go, this is the rewrite of the first chapter in Part III, and for those of you who read the old version, I'm sorry for the confusion!

Now, I might not be able to update as much as I use because I have exams coming up and school projects that I have neglected :P (And now I have one day to finish 4 projects that are due tomorrow...) so I'm sorry to make people who actually like this story wait...

Anyway please review and tell me if there is anything bothering you at all! I'll gladly change it when I can!

-LiteratureStarter.


	10. Chapter Four Part I: New Life

"You know, you don't have to use your alias." Sylvette said. I looked at her. "I don't plan on using mines, Scarlet…it's not a nice sounding name." She said with a slight cringe. I blinked twice. " I rather stick with my name, besides Sylvette Léon sounds so much better." She said.

"I guess that's true…but I can't just go against orders…" I said. She sighed and then leaned back on the seat. "You don't get it… Since we'll be in Kalm, the W.R.O wouldn't be able to monitor our actions fully." She points out.

I sighed, and replied that 'I'll think about it.' She sighed and then looked out the window.

"You know what Scáth, you really shouldn't try to follow what everyone tells you to do and try to follow yourself for once, it'll make you feel lighter." She tells me as she untied her hair, letting fall to its original length: down to her ankles.

I blinked twice. "Nice hair…" She looked at me, suddenly taken back. "Sorry… that just came out." I said bluntly.

"Thank you." She said with a small smile. I nodded simply. "You're welcome." I replied.

"Actually you're the first person to say that." She told me. I slowly turn to her. "Other people who didn't know me that well always compared my hair to the color of blood." She said as her expression changed from happy to stoic. "I don't think it looks like blood…it looks more like the color of a red balloon––"

Sylvette chuckled. "A red balloon?" She grinned. I nodded awkwardly while I scratched the back of my head.

"Well, I guess having the color of a red balloon is better than having the color of blood." She said as her smile returned. I sighed and then and closed my legs, deciding that it was best to meditate till we get there.

Suddenly I felt a small touch on my cheek and then I opened my eyes and saw Sylvette smiling at me. "You're a nice guy Scáth." She said. I nodded half-heartly. She smiled and then looked out the window.

And then I noticed something that I didn't notice before…she had a glow around her, a light…and I wanted to protect that light in her… suddenly I realized that light she had was the same one that my mother had, and it the very same light that my father would to all lengths to protect.

But does that mean–– Stop thinking like that…someone like her deserves someone better––Wait! What I am thinking? I shouldn't be saying stuff like that… I just have to protect her because I was ordered too, and that's what I'll do. Work is more important than personal feelings.

"What's going through your head?" She asked. I blinked twice and then looked at her. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You have that distant look on your face again. What's going through your head?" She demanded.

"It's nothing, just thinking." I told her. She sighed and told once again to lighten up or I'll end up losing a lot of friends that way.

"You will you know…I lost a lot of friends because I didn't express myself, so I ended up learning the hard way. I use to think that I would never be excepted because of what I am…but now I realize that there will be others who don't care and there will be others who treat it like a disease, something that you should stay away from…something that's taboo…but who cares, I'm living my life, trying to make the best of it each and everyday. And you know it's satisfying, stop worrying about what others think of you, and just be yourself." She advised.

"Besides, I don't have that long to live either…" She said. My eyes widen and then I looked away, closing my eyes for a minute before opening them again. "Why?" I asked calmly.

"Materia Keepers don't live that long, our lifespan is only about twenty-three years, and then we go through a hibernation…then, that's where were at our most vulnerable... many people have slain my kind during that stage…however there are the lucky ones that manage to return to the planet afterwards." She said.

"How long do you have?" I asked again. "A year…I just turned twenty-two last week." She confessed. "Aren't you scared?" I added. She nodded and then smiled. I simply stared at her, wondering why could she be so calm. "I'm sure that you'll be scared too, you know if you were going to die soon." She pointed out. "Besides there's a few things that I want to do… but I know I won't be able to do it, I don't have enough time now...after this mission I want you to go and find your family in Wutai… leave the W.R.O while you have the chance, please don't end up alone like me." She requested. I shook my head. "No, I received a mission and I will complete it in anyway possible, even if it means getting killed." I told her.

She chuckled pitifully. "You don't get it do you, you can have a chance to start a new life, you don't won't be alone like me––" "You're not alone." I interrupted. "You have me...and we'll make it through this mission, no matter what…now Reeve said that we should just stay low for a while…we'll do that." I told her. Her mouth hung open slightly, but she nodded nonetheless.

Near the entrance to Edge-City an hour later.

"Zean come on we're here…" I grunted as I turned my head slightly to see if he was still awake or not.

Zean let out a small groan and opened his eyes half way. "Jeez sis, I swear you'll probably have three centimeters biceps by now…" He joked tiredly. I chuckled and replied in a joking manner. "Well, you finally did a little bit of math."

"Shut up…" He muttered. I chuckled and then apologized, and then told him to hang on because we weren't in a hospital yet.

The entrance of Kalm, 8:00 P.M.

Sylvette and I were escorted to our temporary house in the far ends of the city. "Well at least it looks cozy." She said. I shrugged as the escorts left. Soon I approached the house and then opened the door. Suddenly, "Are you sure that you want to stay?" She asked. I nodded. "Why though, the W.R.O practically gave us a big break, so you can go and find your family." She pointed out. I sighed, _'Not this again…'_ I thought. "I told you, I have a mission to complete…and I'll complete anyway possible…besides, you remind me of my sister, Spéire, she was born weak…but she had a strong heart, like you." I told her.

"And your strong heart, it's given me a reason to stay here…Now I know what to do for once…I want to keep that heart of yours strong…I want to protect it, though I don't understand why…it's just something that I have to do." I explained.

She looked stunned up to the point where her eyes stopped blinking for a minute, and her mouth hung open.

"So if you don't mind, I'll stay." I told her. She nodded slowly, and then she just looked at me. "I know you heard this before, but I'm perfectly capable in protecting myself." She said. "But thank you…I'll appreciate what you're doing here." She said with a small smile.

I nodded again in reply and opened the door wide for her to enter first. She closed her eyes and then graciously stepped inside, but she stopped in the middle of the doorway. "By the way, you're the first person to have considered my feelings…so thank you again."

I didn't quite understand what she meant by 'considering her feelings.' But like I said before, she had something that I wanted to protect, even with the cost of my own life…and hopefully, when my mission is done, she'll find someone that she can protect before her hibernation.

And then that's when I can find my family again.

One month later, W.R.O Headquarters.

"Aw, you beat me!" Zean exclaimed in his hospital bed. I chuckled as we arm-wrestled.

It a lot has happened this past month: The W.R.O found us in the entrance, and offered us immediate assistance, and they managed to retrieve our father, however that was a bittersweet moment because he had to be arrested and sentenced to three months for breaking in a ship, not only that but he took Zean's and mine punishments as well, so he still has another months to go till he's set free.

But there was some good news too, Zean and I found out from Beira that Scáth actually worked here…(Well it was more like she was too excited to realize that she babble it out, but who wouldn't be excited when it came to expecting your first child?)

Well aside from that good news, came more bad news, she didn't know where Scáth went with this girl called Sylvette. Soon, we're back to square one until we find out from Reeve about the whereabouts of his location. So far we didn't have much luck with that either...

"You okay sis?" Zean asked. I blinked twice. "Yeah… I might want to go and visit dad later on." I told him. He nodded and then sighed. "I guess I messed it up for him again…"

"We both did…but I don't think dad will see it that way, after all. The only thing that he wants to do is protect us all." I told him. He nodded and muttered a 'yeah right'

"Don't worry, I'm sure he won't be angry with you." I assured him. He nodded again still not convinced.

I smiled and then told him that I will be back later on.

The Cells, 10:00 A.M

"Dad." I called from outside. Dad turned around and saw me standing on the other side of the glass wall. "How's your brother?" He asked as he walked closer to the glass wall. "He's doing okay." I answered. "He felt guilty about getting you in here, though." I added with a small chuckle. He nodded. "Any luck with Reeve?" He asked. I shook my head. "He said that he's sorry, but he can't reveal the locations, even for an old friend." I replied with a sigh. Dad stared and then nodded again. "Maybe, whatever your brother is doing, it must be important." Dad pointed out. "Could be…" I whispered.

Dad turned his head towards me again. "Maybe we should leave him alone." He said. I blinked twice. "Part of me agrees with you, but there's another part that doesn't agree…so I'll go with that one." I told him. "So I see." He said. "I hope you don't mind dad." I told him. He shook his head. "Spéire, you're seventeen now, it's time you make your own choices." Dad said.

"Dad?" Spéire looked at him. "If you want to lead, then you can." He told me. I felt my eyes widen. "But I'm not leader mater––" "All this time you, Zean and your mother went along with my decision, now it's your turn to make your own, and I'll be there every step of the way." He explained. I closed my eyes and then smiled. "Thank you dad." I said. "When you and Zean are allowed to leave, we can look for him again." I said.

"You don't have to wait that long." A young boy said as he stepped out of the shadows. I turned around and there was a black haired boy there, I recognized him as Redan, the son of one Reeve's scientists. "I know where Scáth is." He told me. "You do?" I asked. He nodded. "He's in Kalm." "Now, you better stand back Mister…" He warned my dad.

Dad nodded and then backed away. Redan jumped in the air and spun kicked on the glass.

It shattered, and suddenly the alarm started. Dad got out and looked at Redan. "Why did you help us?" He asked. "Save that for later, now we need to get out here!" Redan ordered as he ran out first. I turned to dad, wondering if we should follow him. He nodded. I nodded in understanding and then the both of us ran side by side. "What about Zean?" I pointed out as we ran. "He'll be safe here." Dad answered.

Kalm, a week later.

_BARAK! _ I nailed the leather coating of the roof hard, and then I moved my head up, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

"Scáth! You want anything to drink?" Sylvette called from down the roof. "I'm fine, Sylvette." I shouted. "You've up there all day, give yourself a break!" She ordered as she took done our clothes. I sighed and just continued. "Scáth try not to work so hard. Especially in this heat!" Sylvette patronized. "I'll be done in a minute so don't worry." I told her.

She sighed and just finished up on the laundry.

Finally, one last tile and I was done for the day. I placed the nail, straight on top and then slammed it down with my hammer a couple of times before I moved on with my next one.

After five minutes, it was done. I let out a sigh and then I packed all the tools away before carefully going down towards the ladder, and climbed down towards the ground.

My feet landed with a loud _pah!_ Soon I heard Sylvette's footstep from behind me. She handed me a bottle of cold water. I took it and thanked her before I opened the cap to drink it.

"Scáth, if you're not busy, I was thinking that we can go to the town to get to know some of the people here." Sylvette said. I nodded, after all it was a good idea, so we didn't appear suspicious. But there was probably something else in her mind. "Are you saying this because you want to see the locals or go to the beach?" I asked. She shrugged. "Well going to the beach would be nice too." She pointed out. "But that wasn't my intention." She added. I nodded partly in agreement. "It wasn't!" She declared. "Whatever." I said. She sighed and then went to the house; I assumed that she started getting ready.

An hour later on the beach.

I never saw Sylvette seem so amazed before, though I didn't see what the big was at first, till her eyes widen. "You never have been to a beach before?" I guessed. She shook her head.

"It's so beautiful…the way the water sparkles." She muttered. I shrugged and then tried to find a spot for us to sit on.

Soon I step up an umbrella and then a towel, soon I saw Sylvette walking towards the ocean.

She ducked her head to see the ocean water touch her feet. I sighed and simply smiled as I plunged the umbrella in the sand.

I turned back and I saw her lean her head back, allowing the wind to blow on her hair. It was a beautiful sight, soon the sun started to set, and the light reflected on her body, giving it a kind of glowing effect.

She turned around and motioned me to come forward. I nodded and then walked carefully towards the water.

She bends on her knees and saw the different types of fish that swam near the shore. "Wow…there's so many different colors." She whispers. I look down and a memory instantly came, but it went away quickly as it came.

"Are you okay?" She asked. I nodded quickly and just went out of the water. Sylvette grabbed my hand, "Come on the water is not going to hurt you…so just stay okay?" She said with a smile.

I sighed and then I nodded again. I didn't know why, but there was something about her that didn't let me back away. "Alright." I said. She smiled and nodded before she pulled me closer to the water. In no time, the water had reached our waists. "Wow...it's cold..." Sylvette said as she shivered. "Don't worry, it'll take a while to get to use too." I replied. She nodded, trusting me completely. Soon she took my hand again, and allowed me to lead her towards the water. I didn't know why she trusted me so much? I wasn't the type of person that deserves to be trusted, no not at all... "Sylvette, stop...let's go back, it's not safe here." I added as I pulled her to the shore. She looked at me and then asked why?

I told her that I wasn't the type of person that deserves to be trusted, especially by a young woman like her. She laughed pitifully, and I looked at her. "You keep saying that to yourself... No wonder you're a wreck." She said. "You let your guilt take over just like that... Trust me you don't want to go down that road; I've been there before. And it's not nice." she added. "Is that so?" I retorted. She nodded. "I was like you once, I didn't have any friends, well…except for Reeve and for those girls that I use to hang out with in High School… but even then, I knew that we'll never see each other again. Soon I realized that I wasn't going to be staying with them forever, and nobody can really live forever…not even Reeve." She sighed as she folded her arms.

"Funny, I was told that life doesn't just end here…but you go through a change and become something else…" I added.

"Changes huh? Yeah right…" She muttered as she closed her eyes. Then she opened them and smiled. "Well, if you put it that way, I guess it'll be a nice thought…but I wish that things could stay the same." She added. I nodded in agreement. Soon she rubbed her shoulders and blew on her hands.

I looked at the horizon and the sun was barely a thin line. "We better go, it's getting late." I told her as I placed my hand on her shoulder before we walked out of the water.

We went to our spot in the beach, and I pulled out a towel for her. She gladly took it and draped it around her while I started pack everything away and close the umbrella. "Scáth, thanks." She said.

I turned around and nodded while my mouth automatically turned into a smile. "Ready to go?" She asked. "Yeah." I told her. "Do you need any help?" She offered. "Sure." I replied as I handed her the bag while I carried the umbrella. She held the bag with both her hands, while I slung the umbrella on my shoulder.

Then we walked to the house, the sound of explodes came, and a flash of red light reflected on Sylvette's face.

She stopped and looked up at the sky.

There were fireworks in the sky. One was green, another was blue, and the next was purple. Her eyes lighten up as she stared it, like a soul looking at heaven. "It's amazing, what do you call those things?" She asked. "Fireworks." I answered. Her eyes widen in confusion. "Are those really fireworks?" She asked. I nodded. "Wow, I mean I've heard of them, but I've never really seen them before…I never though they'll be mesmerizing." She said in a slow voice as she looked up at the sky.

"Yeah, it is mesmerizing isn't it?" I added as I looked up too. She nodded.

Seconds later, I felt someone's hand on my mines, and I stopped to look down for a minute, and there I saw her fingers intertwined with mines. I cleared my throat, and she jumped then looked at her hands. "Sorry…" She said as lets go. Then she takes one last look at the sky.

"Let's go." I told her. She nodded and then she followed me. But then there was the sound of music coming from the town. She stopped and listened. I turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Sorry…Can you wait a minute, just until this song finishes?" She asked. I sighed, "Sure."

She smiled and then closed her eyes. She lifted her head slightly as the cool breeze came and blew strands of her hair. Soon she started tapping her feet and moving her head in the beat.

I nodded my head in the rhythm and clapped my hands in the beat. Suddenly she was looking at me. I stopped clapping, "What is it?" I asked. "You were singing." She answered. "I was? Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." I apologized. "No, it was alright. You have a good voice." She complimented. "Thank you." I replied.

Sylvette entered the house first, and put the bag by the doorway. I placed the umbrella on next to the wall, so it could stand there and then entered the house. She was sitting on a chair, right by the stair, drying her long hair.

I looked down, and the ends of her red hair reached the floorboards. "Why don't you get it cut?" I asked her. She stopped and looked up at me. I could tell that she knew I was referring to her hair.

"Because, my mother told me never to cut it." She said. Her mother? "I don't have a lot of memories of my parents, but I distinctly remembered that she told me to never cut my hair, so that's why I let it grow." She explained. "I see, so you don't want to disobey your mother…" "Don't you ever think of seeing them too?" I pointed out. She nodded. "I do, but I don't know where they are…in fact I don't even know if they're alive. You see they gave me to Reeve when I was four, when I became too much for them to handle, after that I never heard from them again… well, right now I don't know if I even _want_ to see them… they're just the past, I want to think about the future." She said.

"You can't just discard your parents like that, they gave you life!" I shouted. She sighed. "I'm not discarding them, I'm moving on. I do miss them, honestly I do, but unlike you, I don't dread on things in the past." She said as she continued to dry her hair.

"I've been trying to move on…sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard." I told her. "I wish it was just easy." I added.

Suddenly I felt her hand on my shoulder. "Moving on is never easy, it takes time…but if you wait long enough, you'll see it's worth it." She advises. "You really think so?" I asked.

She nodded. "Do your hardest, and wait without expecting what comes, that's how you succeed, live for the sake of living, and work hard but don't forget to be happy." She said as she turned her back on me. "But before you can be happy, you need to find your goal." She said as she turned around.

I smiled and then smiled. Now I officially know that I want to protect her. "I have found my goal." I told her. She turned around to face me. "Really? What is it then?" She asked.

"I want to protect you." I told her. She blinked twice and then her eyebrows furrowed. She opened her mouth to speak, I held her by the shoulders. "I want to protect you. _You_." I said adding more emphasis, to the 'you' part. She blinked slowly as her mind to comprehend all this. "I don't understand…" She admitted. "Your light, I want to protect your light." I simplified.

She chuckled and smiled shyly. "I don't think I have a light, I only see myself as the keeper of darkness, somebody pretending that everything will be alright." She sighed. "It will be, if you let that part of yourself go…you were able to let go of your past, everything that had ever happened to you, you brushed it off as if it were nothing. You're inspiring me to move on with myself, be myself, and live for myself." "Now I'm not sure I can do this completely, but you gave me the motivation to start. So let me help you give the motivation to help you reconnect with your light." I said. "Why do you want to help me? Sure, I might be your friend, but I'm not a close friend or anything… in a way, I'm still a stranger." She pointed out.

That was true, in a way there's still a lot to learn about her. But she's one of the closest friends I ever had, she's more of a friend to me than Beira is.

"Thank you for your concern though…I never had a good friend like you, who knows maybe in the future, we can be something more, you know like best friends." She said. "By the way, thank you for the good time…and can you sing again, please?" She requested.

I nodded and opened my mouth then sang:

**Though we have lost so much,**

**It is never going to end,**

**So let's walk hand in hand,**

**and keep fighting until then,**

**Let us all make a change,**

**So it'll never happen again,**

**I don't want to lose much,**

**I'm about to bend,**

**So I want to a change **

**and make sure that this will end,**

**don't wanna feel the hurt, or the pain again.**

**I am willing to change, forever now and the end.**

**So please just stop, let us keeping on going, **

**Let us comprehend, that we are all the same, **

**we don't want life just to end,**

**we don't want to lose that precious someone,**

**so hang on till the end.**

**Even though we feel we can fall,**

**that is not all,**

**no matter how times we fall.**

**we can always change the day,**

**so let us live and stand tall, **

**to earn and to learn**

**to live that special someone,**

**forever till end of it all**

**let us all live and learn, **

**till we all yearn,**

**to have that special some,**

**that we live with till the end,**

**we all have a special someone…**

**so don't give up even until the end. **

She smiled. "That was a pretty good song, though the words could use a little work." She said. I nodded. "Thanks." I replied. Hopefully, that would be enough to give her a little hope now. "Scáth, you just give me a little motivation to move on." She said with a small smile. "Glad I could help." I told her.

She went back to drying her hair. '_I wondered if this is what dad felt when he first met mom? Did he just want to protect her?' 'Who knows, I'll just have to wait and see till he comes here. Then I'll ask him, till then…I guess I'll do what I can to keep her safe.'_

She grunted lightly, I snapped out of my thoughts and saw her trying to tie her long hair back into place.

"Do you need any help?" I asked. She turned to me, "No, that's alright, I can manage." She said as she grabbed a handful of her hair.

Soon she pulled out a blue ribbon from her pocket, and then she tied it when she rolled the ends of her hair. "How long are you going to stand there and stare?" She asked. I chuckled lightly. "Sorry, I'll be in the shower, so yell if you need me." I told her. Sylvette nodded.

Soon I headed upstairs, and went into the bathroom, soon I took off my swimsuit, and stepped into the shower, and instead of just turning on the cold water, I turned on the warm water as well.

I closed my eyes as the soothing warm water touched my skin. Suddenly it brought back happy memories of my childhood, the precious memories that I will stay with me for the rest of my life…

But, it also brought back some of the memories that I wanted to forget… like the day of the explosion, hearing the sounds of people dying in front of me, and knowing that there was nothing that I could to help.

I thought that joining the W.R.O might help me erase those horrible memories…but it didn't erase it, no, the W.R.O gave me missions. Missions that will help me take my mind off the memories for a while.

Finally, after a few minutes of self-questioning, I got out of the shower, and wrapped it around my waist, then I stepped out of the bathroom. Suddenly the smell of cooking came. _'It must be Sylvette.'_ I thought as I entered my room to change. Soon I came out, wearing a white longs-sleeve shirt, and loose black trousers.

Soon I sat on the chair, and waited till she served the meal. _Clank._ "There." She said, still wearing her swimsuit. "Aren't you going to change?" I asked. "I will later." She said. "For now, I'm hungry." She said as sat down on her chair, and then she picked up the fork and cut up her steak with a knife.

I looked down at the food she made, and then I clasped my hands together, then muttered in a soft voice. "Itadakimasu…" Soon I picked up my utensils and started eating.

{Speire's P.O.V}

Redan led dad and I to the exit of Edge City, and told us that's as far as he can go. "I thought you wanted to see Scáth?" I added. He nodded and said that he honestly, but he can't leave his mother alone.

"Wait, Redan…can you look after my brother while you're there?" I asked. "Sure." He replied.

"Thank you." I said. He nodded and then said he had to go back. Dad and I nodded and he ran back waving.

"Come on Spéire." Dad called. I nodded and followed him as we traveled to Kalm on foot.

We continued to walk for three hours before dad sat down on the ground, then he told me to sit down as well. "So are we camping here for the night?" I asked. "No, we're just giving our feet a rest for a while, then we'll head out again." He explained. I sighed and laid down on the sandy surface. Soon I looked at the stars and lifted my hand up to see how constellations I could find.

Suddenly, what seemed like a second later, "Spéire, let's go we've got a lot of ground to cover." He said as he stood up. I stood and once again followed him.

"I can't believe it, after all this time we'll finally get to see him again... I wonder how tall is he now? Or whether he has a girlfriend or not." I started. Dad turned his head around to glance at me. "Spéire, we'll find out when we get there." Dad added. I sighed, so I decided to change the question. "Do you want to meet him so you can apologize for leaving him behind?" I asked.

Dad stopped and closed his eyes. I walked over to him and placed a hand of comfort on his shoulder. "I just. That was the hardest choice I ever made, and I made your mother and siblings suffer because of it. Maybe this is a way I can repent for everything that I put you all through." He said. "Well, I admit it took sometime to get use too, especially when the twins were born, but it's been fun. So not all of it was as miserable as you thought it was. Sure, we might have been able to put food on the table everyday, we at least we had each other." I told him. "Just like what mom and the rest of us always wanted." I added.

Dad remained silent and kept walking. "And that's what made me stronger, it was good to see that we could be a family again." I told him. Dad stopped and turned around. I smiled and walked over to grab his hand. "So, let's bring the missing piece to our family's puzzle." I said to him. He sighed and a small smile on his face. "Well what are we doing now?" He pointed out. I chuckled. Dad gently ruffled my hair and told me to keep going.

I walked, and looked on a head, practically counting the moments till we get closer and closer to the city, closer to the moment where we all can see each other again. The moment when dad can be relieved again.

* * *

Well here you go, the next chapter!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the attempt on the lyrics... (I suck when it comes to narrative poetry)

and for those of you who don't really like those cheesy romantic moments, I'm sorry to have given a huge IMPLICATION of a Scáth x Sylvette moment (:P)

Personally, I don't know if those two will be together or not, I'm still debating on it.

So if you do what them together or not, please tell me via Review or PM (Private Messaging).

Thank you!

And look out for the next chapter.

-LiteratureStarter.

P.S: Please review guys, I honestly love to hear feedback from you!


	11. Author's Note

Authors note:

Hey guys, as you all know I put up that I am not going to continue with the story and I am sorry for those you who liked it, I honestly can't write this anymore, I personally think it's cheesy and predictable and therefore horrible, and I have had constant conflict with when writing the next chapter for this story, and once I posted it online and re-read it, I think to myself, well this is sweet but boring, and I honestly can't see where I am going with this. So I will rewrite this story, under a new title and basically start over.

-Detective shel0ck (My Best Friend in real life)

-Risort ( For pointing out some of my errors e.g when I portrayed Cloud in an OOC manner and for your kind words)

-Takashi Miramoto (For your kind review and for putting this story in your alerts and favorites)

Till then, I hope you have a good day.

-LiteratureStarter.


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